The Beaker Family - Week 8

For this family's previous week, click here.

Beta and Circe Beaker have just moved here, to a Maxis-made house I have never played at before. I am rather excited about exploring it!

Circe is of course Loki Beaker's widow, and Beta is Loki's half-Alien daughter. Both ladies are on Permanent Platinum: Circe became Business Tycoon when she was two days from Elderhood (she is now 80), and Beta made it to Head of SCIA early into her adulthood, 20 days from Elderhood.
The Beakers were relatively wealthy to begin with, and decades of full-time work have made them rich. Therefore, I won't have to watch a budget when I'll feel like changing things in the house.

Inside, the house is a bit disappointing - in spite of its large, multi-storey exterior, there is only a ground floor and no upstairs (not even stairs!).
Coming in from the entrance (bottom of the picture), there is a small bedroom to the right and an even smaller TV room to the left. The entrance hall is huge and does not contain much besides a settee and chess table with chairs.

To the right are a double bedroom with its own patio and adjacent bathroom. The bedroom is not at all according to my taste, and the bathroom has only the cheapest sanitary equipment.

To the left of the entrance hall are a large dining room and kitchen. Like the bathroom, the kitchen shows the cheapest equipment from the buy catalogue.
As money is no problem in this family, I will put in an upstairs floor and gradually give the ground floor a makeover.

First things first, though: Beta asks her niece B'Elanna to move in. The younger woman is only too happy to accept the invitation and get out of her tiny house!

Here is the kitchen as the ladies find it upon moving in.

And here it is after the makeover. Maybe you remember that the Beakers had a yellow and grey colour scheme in their kitchen at their former house, too. Finishing touches such as pictures and accessories will be added gradually.

 B'Elanna is excited when Shaun Singles, her three-bolt-man, turns up on his own accord!

In fact, she is so excited and distracted that she burns the chili she wants to serve her special guest.

B'Elanna lays the table in the dining room and sits down to eat there, but Shaun autonomously takes his bowl of burnt chili to the counter in the kitchen, far away from her.

Well, I send her over, although she is on Permanent Platinum and would normally not be controlled by me anymore. Shaun seems to have waited for her to give up her chair at the dining table and join him at the counter. "Do you really want to stick to just one man now, after you have had your 50 first dates?" he asks, his voice quivering with a mix of doubt and hope.

"Absolutely!" B'Elanna reassures him, and finally, the two hug and kiss again.

Meanwhile, Circe has returned from work, and Beta follows Shaun around all the time - she has no bolts for him, but the "attraction" animation appears all the time. I do hope this does not mean she'll fall in love with her niece's man!

Strange things happen when on Tuesday morning, out of the blue the groceries delivery van pulls up in front of the house. Nobody has ordered groceries, but they accept the delivery and even tip the delivery man.
(Later the same day, when Beta returns from work, she carries a basket of groceries - did she go food-shopping while she was at work?)

Orlando Ottomas kicks the trash can over with bitter thoughts about B'Elanna.

Beta is kind enough to clean up the mess on her own initiative.

Shaun is invited over, but the two have not yet reached "best friends" status.

B'Elanna needs an afternoon nap (in the ugly, still unchanged bedroom) and wishes Shaun would join her.

I don't think he'd refuse her invitation!

It is early on Wednesday morning when I send the three Beaker ladies to a community lot. Since two of them want to buy clothes, "Cover Me Clothing" it is. After she has made her purchase, Beta grills Hot Dogs and retreats to a quiet bench with hers.

They remain at "Cover Me Clothing" until Circe gets really tired. It is still only morning.

Back home, Beta rakes leaves and burns the piles - with no fire resulting :-)

The Chos, Charlie and his wife Tina (nee Traveller), come visiting on their own accord.

And YES!! Finally, B'Elanna can ask Shaun to move in - and he accepts!
To my dismay, I find that Shaun has three 3-bolt-ladies - B'Elanna, her aunt Beta, and Tina Cho! Hopefully, there won't be another mess-up with jealousy scenes in the household.

Just as Circe returns from work, Shaun is hit by lightning. After a trip to the toilet, a shower and something to eat, he is as right as rain again.

On Thursday, 83-year-old Circe goes to work just as Beta picks up the phone; it is Matthew Cho at the other end. In the background, yesterday's dirty dishes are still on the dining table.

But reliable Beta clears the table as soon as her phone call ends.

Then I send her out to greet Giselle Goth, one of her 17 or so half-siblings.

Circe returns from work and does not need to be asked to do something useful; she grabs the shears and starts trimming the hedge on her own accord.

Then I make a stupid, stupid mistake: Shaun has rolled the want to have a date, and I click on B'Elanna so that he can ask her. But... I wasn't looking properly, what with walls half down and trying to see what Circe was doing at the same time, and accidentally clicked on Beta instead of B'Elanna!
Of course, the "cheating!!" sign appeared over B'Elanna's and Shaun's heads immediately, and she slapped him. "After all we went through! I can't believe you are doing this to me!"
Poor Circe is innocently caught in the middle, and Beta is simply embarrassed.

And as if all this wasn't yet enough, moments later, Mr. Reaper comes to hand Circe her final cocktail.
I swear, there is not a second of boredom in this household - a veritable soap opera!

Shaun heads upstairs to the newly furnished bedroom that was meant to be his and B'Elanna's - but when he is asleep, it is Beta who follows and slips between the sheets next to him!

Downstairs, B'Elanna is devastated. She has not only lost her three-bolt man to her aunt (she thinks - but Beta and Shaun are not in love... not yet!), but also her beloved Grandmother has just died.

On Friday morning, I catch Shaun showing all signs of being very angry with B'Elanna - while it should be the other way round.

Maybe Beta would be the better choice for him, he seems to wonder.

Shaun goes to work, and just as Beta is heading to her car pool an hour later, B'Elanna gets too close to the pile of leaves she has just set fire to.

Beta can only watch helplessly - and Mr. Reaper shakes his head at so much daftness. I did not take note of B'Elanna's age, but I know she reached her LTW when she was 23 days from Elderhood; that was still at her previous house, and she moved in with Beta and Circe on Monday. Do the maths, if you like!

I am nearly as sad as Beta about B'Elanna's untimely death (even though I consciously ran the risk when I had her burn the leaves).

But it does solve a problem. And to be honest, Shaun and Beta are a better match than he was with B'Elanna - they are much closer in age, only a few "years" apart. Anyway, the sight of Shaun is the only thing that can pull Beta out of her grief, it seems.

It is early morning on Saturday, when Beta has recovered enough to think of doing some house work again (on her own accord).

She even starts on some badly needed gardening after she has put all the old papers in the bin for recycling.

Shortly after sunrise, Kennedy Smith arrives - he has been invited as a house guest by Shaun.

Beta thinks she would definitely not feel like having champagne if it weren't to honour their guest from far away.
By the way, when I next check Beta's and Shaun's attraction for each other, I find that they are down to 2 bolts. I don't know why; maybe it has to do with Beta walking around in her undies a lot, or her having gained more weight.

Kennedy and Shaun retreat to the small den and talk about the places and strange customs Kennedy has seen on his travels.

At 6:00 pm, Shaun turns into an elder - I completely forgot about it, or I would have thrown a birthday party for him!

By Sunday morning, Kennedy has seen enough of his hostess to find her VERY attractive (they have 2 bolts for each other).
        <Snapshot>

Shortly after this picture was taken (Kennedy had just given Beta a quick kiss), pink hearts are flying. No problem - she and Shaun have not yet developed a crush on each other.

Shaun wants to throw a party and give their guest the chance to meet other New Maximilianians. After all, the idea is to have him move to the neighbourhood permanently.
Guy Zimmerman (former Wrightley), Pauline Broke and Cedric Stacks are invited...

...as are Charlie Cho and Jaqueline Newson (nee Jacquet), one of Beta's many half-sisters.

The party is a big hit with everyone, and the week ends on a positive note - something I am glad about after all the drama here!

How are Shaun and Beta going to get along next time I play this household? Will Kennedy move in?

B'Elanna Beaker - Week 1

This is B'Elanna Beaker's first week back from uni. For her last semester there (and her graduation party), click here. 

This small town house is in New Maximiliania's Bluewater Village quarter. It reminds me of the houses the Caliente Sisters and Don Lothario originally had. Who lives here now?

It is B'Elanna Beaker, Beta Beaker's niece, the half-Alien daughter of her late brother Barry, and Circe and Loki Beaker's granddaughter. She graduated Magna Cum Laude in Art last round and has only just moved in.
Her lifetime want is to have 50 first dates; she left uni with an impressive 35 already under her belt. How will she fare this week?

Buying the house has eaten up almost all of B'Elanna's budget, and she is left with just 3.618 Simoleons. There isn't much there in terms of appliances or furniture, and one of the first things she wishes for is a fridge.
Then, inheritances kick in, and her account is at 4.338 Simoleons. That should tide her over for a while, if she is careful and does not spend too much on furniture and decoration.

NPC bartender Amar Wilkie becomes her 1st date # 36 even before the Welcome Committee arrives.

It consists of Jill Smith and Justin Kim. Townies Ian Graham and Kennedy Kwa are invited to join the group for a batch of Hamburgers; B'Elanna has not met the men before and is always on the look-out for potential 1st dates.
The visit ends with Justin becoming # 37 on her list.

On Tuesday morning, B'Elanna's need for fun is more important than anything else. It is not unusual for a Pleasure Sim to roll the want to juggle bottles, and so I have her do that for a while.

Already yesterday, B'Elanna showed the wish to buy new clothes (I can't blame her). Today, I send her to Amelia's Closet.

After she has made her purchase, she serves Hot Dogs and eats them in the shop's back room with a mix of well known Sims such as Romeo Monty (sitting to her left) and townies, such as Amin Sims, who could be a possible 1st date later on.

But first, she meets and greets Shaun Singles - and finds out that he is her 3-bolt man! There is no date yet, just a chat, but it is enough to know that these two get along fabulously.

Back home, B'Elanna invites townie Kennedy Kwa to become her 1st date # 38.

Jake Holimo, a townie she met while shopping, follows as # 39.

It is Wednesday morning. B'Elanna's modest bedroom is now more or less furnished. The house is so small that I can not even place a bed for two there, and instead of a proper wardrobe, she only has a clothes rack in the corner.

"Whom shall I ask for a 1st date today," she wonders as she goes through her list of male Sims she knows. (The stereo, by the way, was left by one of her recent dates as a gift.)

Shaun Singles, the three-bolt man she met the day before at the clothes shop, is more than happy to come over. Their talking and playing quickly turns into a slow dance with a tender kiss. Pink hearts fly on both sides, and when their date reaches Dream Date status, B'Elanna gently kisses him good-bye for the day.

She still has an LTW to fulfill, and asks Ian Graham over. Unfortunately, just as their - completely platonic! - date begins, Shaun appears with a bouquet of roses. The cheating sign shows it all. Oh dear, B'Elanna, you really messed up this time! Hopefully, Shaun will come round eventually.

Thursday starts with B'Elanna cleaning the bathroom on her own accord. It turns out a dull day, matching her mood after yesterday's jealousy scene with Shaun.

He "happens to" walk by her house in the early afternoon and does not reject her friendly greeting. B'Elanna apologises, and they even have a game of kicky bag, but Shaun leaves without them being able to rekindle their former friendship and closeness.

After an unsuccessful attempt at a 1st date with a townie, B'Elanna is glad to have a friendly guest for dinner in Carolina Capp, who listens when she says how she already has found "The One" to spend the rest of her life with but can not forego her lifetime want just like that.

B'Elanna hopes to get a few more 1st dates under her belt on Friday morning. I can't believe she has never asked Orlando Ottomas, one of her best friends for life, on a date, but his name is not on my notes, so it must be true. She quickly asks him over, and he agrees to have a date. However, he ruins it somewhat by mocking her Alien heritage.

This does not go down well with B'Elanna, and she sends him away after that. I suspect that Orlando did this on purpose, so as not to burden their good friendship with any romantic involvement. And at least, he was her # 43!

Townie Ray Despret becomes # 44. That is only six more dates!

Unfortunately, just as Ray leaves, who should come along but Shaun. It is obvious that Ray has come out of B'Elanna's house, and of course Shaun knows what he was there for.

Still, he accepts her invitation for lunch, and over glasses of bubbly, they become friends again.

"I know you and I are special, but it is so incredibly hard for me to know you date other men," he confesses. B'Elanna assures him that all she does on her dates is talk, tell a joke or two, play kicky bag and maybe a little dancing - but most of the time, she ends each date as soon as possible. Hopefully, Shaun understands.

Saturday morning sees B'Elanna doing some house work. It is also the day she collects enough aspiration points to choose a secondary aspiration. The dice decides on Fortune.

Hobart McAuley is a townie who happens to walk by and is quickly made her 1st date # 45. During the day, she manages to have 1st dates # 45 and 47 as well; one is with another townie and the last one for today is with her old friend Garrett Newson.

One of her many half-siblings, Lance Landgraab, comes visiting (they have the same Alien father). Parvati Patel also comes by, and the three share a relaxing dinner. B'Elanna remarks: "If we ever have a family party with all our half-siblings, we'll need the biggest venue available!"

It is still dark on Sunday morning when Shaun Singles walks past the house. There is no paper to nick (he's been stealing it twice already this week), and he does not kick over the trash can. B'Elanna is still asleep.

She knows she can reach her LTW today, with a little effort. First, she asks her old friend Stephen Riley over. "Of course I'll help you with your LTW," he laughs when she asks him for a "date". He is # 48 on her list.

Then, she unsuccessfully tries to ask many of her male acquaintances over the phone for a date. None of them are her friends, and the answer is always the same: "I don't think so". Getting desperate, B'Elanna enlists the help of the Matchmaker.
Money is tight, though, and she can not afford to spend more than a few hundred Simoleons altogether. As you can tell, the Matchmaker is not impressed.

But B'Elanna does not mind the less than great "quality" of her blind dates - all she needs is two more names on her list of 1st dates. Larry Owens becomes # 49...

...and who but the elusive Kennedy Smith is her last one, # 50!
That's great, because he is the only tourist/townie/NPC I am aware of at the moment who is eligible to become a proper New Maximilianian, having the same surname as a playable family.

As soon as she has ended her 50th 1st date, B'Elanna reaches her LTW. She is now 23 days from Elderhood. This calls for a celebration, and what better way to celebrate than by asking Shaun over? It is also a chance for Shaun to meet Kennedy - maybe they will become friends, and Shaun can be the one to ask him to move to New Max? We'll see!

I had fun playing B'Elanna, but I was sorry to see her mess up the relationship with Shaun. They became friends again, but then she messes up again, by having a date arrive on her lot just as Shaun was once more walking by. The week ended with pink hearts between them, but no friendship. I am sure it will be repaired when I next play either of them.

With the house, I did not do anything except for providing the most necessary furniture. No decoration, no extras. B'Elanna won't stay here for long; she can not even place a double bed in the upstairs rooms.

On my list of her 1st dates, Callum Capp appears twice - and yet, the LTW was fulfilled after the 50th date. I wonder whether it has anything to do with the first date being while they were teens and the second as adults. Or could it have been so much easier by having 50 dates with the same Sim?