The Larsons: Week 1

We've not left Bluewater Village but are now at one of the first houses upon entering the town, coming down from the hill with the windmills. I have named this street Windmill Square, and placed this modest house at No. 1 Windmill Square. The Larson twins have only just moved in. 

Maxis have not furnished it other than a few cheap kitchen items (but no fridge) and a toilet, shower and sink in the bathroom. The twins have just a little over 9,000 Simoleons left after buying the house, and need to be careful about spending as long as they do not have jobs. According to their Maxis-written bio, they "moved out of their parents house and are now trying to make it on their own in the "real world." Using "monetary donations" from house parties they threw. They are finally ready to get down to business!".

To add a little to their bank account, Jodie digs for treasure in front of the house, but all she finds is a tattered old map. She could sell it for 400 Simoleons, but who knows - it might come in useful at some stage, and so it is put in her inventory for now. 

Tessa Ramirez, Stephen Tinker and Dina Caliente come over to welcome their new neighbours. 

"You look so much alike, you must be twins!" Mrs. Ramirez remarks. "Well observed," Jason replies, "we are - and Jodie is my big sister, older by three minutes!" 

The siblings both have the Fortune aspiration, but neither of them is interested in running a business. Jason dreams of being Captain Hero one day, while Jodie sees herself as Chief of Staff at Pleasantview's General Hospital. 

Contrary to that, her bio reads "Being the oldest of the twins, Jodie feels it is her duty to take charge, but will her pushy personality overwhelm her "little brother" and cause their business to bomb?" while about her brother, Maxis have written "Jason is the younger of the twins (by a whopping 3 minutes) and much more carefree than his sister. Will Jodie push him to the edge or will he rise to the challenge and help their business succeed?"

Jodie wakes up well rested in her new, comfortable bed on Tuesday morning.

The bills want paying, and Jason takes care of that.

Since neither of the twins have found a job in their desired career, they decide to visit 250 Main Street in Pleasantview to meet some people and make use of their free time while it lasts. 

Several residents of Pleasantview and Bluewater Village are here, such as Don Lothario, Gilbert Jacquet and Dirk Dreamer.

Dirk even turns up at their home right after the taxi has taken them back, and spends the rest of the afternoon and evening with the Larsons.

All of Wednesday is spent at home, speaking to friends on the phone, studying skills while they have the time and it is autumn. At 7:00 pm, Jason is picked up for work as a Security Guard - he found the job only this morning. Jodie is on her own, working on her body skill until she is tired and goes to bed.

It is 2:00 am on Thursday morning when Jason returns from his night shift with a promotion to Cadet. He has just about enough time to get some sleep before he's off to Police Academy for the day. 

An ambulance pulls up in front of the Larson's house at 7:00 that same morning. Is anyone ill or injured? No - Jodie has found a job as Emergency Medical Technician.

She returns with a colleague in tow (who is sent on her way immediately) and a promotion to Paramedic.

As for Jason, he is dropped off after work with his second promotion of the day and heads straight back to work for his third shift today, now as a Patrol Officer. His friend Vyn Scott can only be greeted fleetingly. With the twins being on such a roll career-wise, the Simoleons come rolling in, too, and their account shows over 9,000 Simoleons - time for some home improvements and to fulfill some of the "buy me" wishes our Fortune Sims are well known for. 

Meet Nurse Jodie, ready for work bright and early on this Friday morning! 

A car was high up on both the Larsons' wish list, and so a car it is. In quick succession, items such as an armchair, better dining table and chairs as well as a more expensive book case than the IKEA one were wished for, and bought.

Saturday turns out to be an eventful day - in various ways. First, Jodie is promoted to Intern...

...and her brother to Desk Sergeant. Both work a while on their skills before going to bed relatively early.

Then, an uninvited and unexpected visitor appears - Gordon King, the "King of Thieves", as he fancies himself, notorious in all of Pleasantview and Bluewater. 

The Larsons' car is the cheapest on the market, but that's fine for Gordon - it's all about proving to the criminal world that he really IS the King of Thieves, even daring to steal from someone who works on the force.

Of course Jason calls for enforcement, and his colleague comes running up to the house just as Gordon starts running out of it.

He doesn't stand a chance against the combined efforts of Jason and his colleague, and is taken away in handcuffs. 

Still, it is a traumatic experience for Jason, and he wakes up long before he is fully rested on Sunday morning. 

Jodie has invited her friend John Burb and his family over, as well as the Dreamers. She is inspecting the replacement car paid for by the insurance when they arrive, and then unfortunately she is off for work and can not spend any time with her guests after having said a quick hello. 

The young people, Lucy and Dirk, head straight for the chess board, but seem to be looking more at each other than at the board.

Jason makes breakfast for everyone and then proceeds to tell the visitors about the "King of Thieves" and his failed attempt at burgling the siblings' home. He is still very upset about the event and gets so worked up he nearly drops his pancakes in his lap.

And then... I discover that Jennifer Burb is his three-bolt lady! She is married, and her husband and daughter are there with her, but Jason is definitely interested and tries constantly to talk to her, but she is nearly always in conversation with someone else.

Finally, his big sister returns from work. Her Sunday shift has paid off: She is now a Resident at Pleasantview General Hospital.

Both she and Jason want to give each other gifts (it is winter now), and it seems to fit the occasion, celebrating a very successful week. 

I enjoyed playing the Larsons than the career-focused week lets on: It was fun to furnish and decorate the modest house according to their wishes, and definitely verv interesting to find out about Jason and Jennifer having 3 bolts for each other - there is potential for some dramatic developments in Pleasantview, but I am not going to force anything.

The Larson Twins at the Senior Residence

Welcome to another week at New Maximiliania's Senior Residence - the only building in the hood that I have built myself.
       

We have three newcomers here: Carla Reamon (66) and her friends Jodie and Jason Larson. The Larson twins are why we are here; their surname follows "Landgraab" on the alphabetical list. They are 80.

Jennifer Burb, now 83, is still here. She is not very well on this Saturday morning.

Florence Delarosa (77) is another one of the residents here. She is fast asleep when Carla and the Larsons arrive.

Last but not least, Juliette Davis (nee Capp) is here as well. She is the second youngest of the group and 67 years old. The lady at the poker table does not live here. Lisa Ramirez has come over for a game of poker.

Immediately after having chosen their rooms, Jodie and Carla engage in a snowball fight. For Carla, a native of Twikkii Island, snow has not yet lost its fascination.

Meanwhile, Jason has gone to join the ladies at the poker table.

Everyone who lives here right now is on Permanent Platinum, so I only intervene when it comes to greeting other New Maximilians or paying the bills.
Jodie makes chef salad for everyone on her own accord. Not a bad strategy for a new arrival.

My meal policy here is that I wait until one of them wants to "stuff face" or serve a meal. I then let them get leftovers, which often results in a spontaneous group meal, such as now. And like many elderly ladies, Florence, Carla and Jennifer like to talk about their health :-)

Later, Florence decides one of the two common room toilets needs cleaning.

Jennifer follows her example.

Melody Tinker walks by and is duly greeted.

Perseida Powers (Jonah Powers' daughter) was not very wise in her coice of outfit for this cold spring day, so Carla rushes out to invite her in.

This is Carla's bedroom, by the way. She has brought all her mementos from Twikkii Island with her.

Ramon Ramirez is the third guest on this Saturday.

After having played poker for a while, Perseida decides on her own accord to help the oldies with their gardening.

Ramon soon joins her.

Another gardener joins the group. But wait, the hooded figure is not a gardener, although he is bearing a scythe. He has come to pick up Jennifer Burb, who at 84 has had a long and often happy life, although overshadowed by the tragic death of her and John's only child, Lucy, who died in a fire at her dorm at uni.

By Sunday morning, the garden looks much better again.

Jason has chosen a blue room (the rooms are all the same except for the colour scheme) and put his portrait on the wall. The rug is new - it has come with one of the stuff packs originally from the official TS2 store and kindly sent to me by Twoyys4me. I really like it - my sister-in-law has a very similar one in real life.
       

Jason makes salad for everyone today. I realized too late that he was already preparing it, or I would have made him get leftovers from the fridge.

Georgia Newson interrupts her jogging round when Juliette greets her.

Later, Carla greets Frances J. Worthington. (I still have not corrected his wrongly spelled name!)

The salad in the morning turns out to have been Jason's very last meal: He dies at 82 that night.

Poor Jodie! It must be especially hard to lose a twin brother.

She puts his portrait in her room now, next to her own and that of Ajay Loner, who was her partner until his death.

It is Monday morning, and the hydrobot breaks down - as it will keep doing nearly every day for the rest of the week.

Zoe Zimmermann is guest # 1...

...followed by Paola Picaso.

This time, I reacted quickly enough when one of the residents showed the intention of making a meal. A cheesecake, found in one of their inventories, is perfect for this early summer day.

Jodie did not have to wait long to join her brother and Ajay in the Otherworld.

She dies that evening at 9.00 pm, at the age of 83.

On Tuesday morning, Florence cleans her own bathroom for a change.

Meanwhile, Carla mops up the puddles left from yesterday's hydrobot breakdown. Afterwards, she does as much of the gardening as she can - all on her own accord.

Juliette does not want to appear as if not doing her share and clears one of several old newspapers.

The portraits have been moved to the (still empty) second common room on the other side of the kitchen and dining area. I find it rather touching that Juliette stops to look at the recently deceased Jodie's portrait for a while.

Florence greets Jill Indie (nee Smith) who might one day become a resident here herself; for now, she is living at her parents' old house with her stepdaughter Isabella Indie and brother Johnny.

When Florence retreats to her rooms for the night, she finds someone already waiting for her. That's fine - she had a good life, and at 81 did not expect much more of it. It is now Wednesday, 2.00 am.

Juliette takes the death of her long-term friend very hard - she even sleeps in Florence's former bed for part of the night.

After a while, she moves back into her own rooms, still thinking of Florence.

Carla does more gardening today. Summer has always been her favourite season, and so she is happy to spend most of the day outside.

On Thursday morning, Juliette is waiting in the common room for someone to play poker with. Well, there is only one other resident left - Carla - and she is still asleep.

sThursday goes by without any visitors or remarkable events. Friday sees the two ladies at the poker table, playing until exhaustion or near starvation.

Who is going to occupy the six empty rooms? How long will Carla and Juliette be around?
Actually, I made a mistake here - I should have stopped playing after both the Larson twins died, because it was neither Florence's nor Juliette's or Carla's turn to be played. But I did complete the week - which began on a Saturday here - and hope to remember better next time.