The Broke-Capp Family: Week 9

Click here for week 8.

This large house is home to the Broke-Capp family.

Beau Broke is the patriarch; he is now 74. You remember him, of course, as Brandi Broke's younger son when the game began. Ever since he became World Class Ballet Dancer 15 days from Elderhood, he has been on Permanent Platinum.

Here is Desdemona, his wife. She was a little girl in one of the Capp families when the game started. Now she is 62 and reached Permanent Platinum when she and Beau celebrated their Golden Anniversary years ago.
Like several other Sims in my game, she changed her lifetime want autonomously - and not just once! For a while, she dreamt of marrying off six children, which is why she has four; before she could have six, her lifetime want had changed again.

Three of her four are already teenagers. Catherine is the oldest, a Popularity Sim who sees herself as a future Media Magnate. Closest to her in age and looks is Charles. His aspiration is Knowledge, and he wants to become Space Pirate. Their younger brother Carmelo has only just turned into a teenager when we left the household last round. A typical Popularity Sim, he wants nothing more than to be New Maximiliania's Mayor.

Calvin is the youngest, and the only one of the children who carries the Broke surname - his parents were not yet married when the other three were born. The oldest two, Catherine and Charles, have a different father: Pierre Picaso, who sadly died long ago. Eventually, their mother met Beau, and the family became complete with the younger two boys.

On this Monday morning, hours before sunrise an unwelcome visitor arrives.

No burglar alarm is installed, and so Jessica Ebadi has free reign in the house. Her first choice is probably going to be the painting over the fireplace.

Yes, I guessed right!

Next, she grabs the book case next to the main entrance, before heading upstairs for more.

She does not even stop at the master bedroom's door, in spite of Beau and Desdemona being asleep in there.

Beau wakes up a little too late - the armchair that was placed in the baby corner (now obsolete) is gone, and so is the burglar.

Beau quickly goes to check on his youngest son. All is well; the burglars never intend to harm a Sim, all they want is loot in the shape of (more or less) expensive objects.

Before leaving for school, the children all have breakfast together.
The rest of the day goes by without any event worth mentioning.

When Beau goes out to post the bills on Tuesday morning, it begins to snow.

After school, Catherine does her homework as soon as possible.

What has Beau done to make Charles interrupt his homework and showing his disgust with his Dad?! Well - Beau and Desdemona were sharing a tender moment in the same room, that's all!

Calvin brings Chris Capp home from school this afternoon.

The kids enjoy a snowball fight before they start to feel the cold and Calvin has to rest a little before he can do his homework.
I would have thought Chris and Calvin are related, but she is from a different branch of the large Capp clan.

I catch Desdemona and Beau sharing another tender moment on Wednesday morning.

Later, over breakfast, Desdemona tells Beau that the Headmaster of New Maximiliania's Private School will come visiting at 5:00 pm today; it is Charles' wish to get into Private School.

Today, Calvin is accompanied home by Mary Riley, who obviously has forgotten her winter coat on the bus.

The groceries delivery man is NOT about to get into the Headmaster's car - the latter just happened to pull up in front of the house at the same time as the delivery man is leaving.

I was so busy having Charles give the Headmaster the obligatory house tour that I realised moments too late Calvin grew up into a teenager! His aspiration is determined by throwing a dice and turns out to be Pleasure, and his lifetime want turns out to become Game Designer.

Downstairs, Charles even lights the fire when his Mum serves dinner  - all for the Headmaster's comfort. And it works; Charles and all his siblings are invited to attend Private School from tomorrow onwards.

I would have liked to show you a picture on Thursday morning of the four siblings, all dressed in their brand new Private School uniforms, on the way to the school bus. But it is a very cold morning, and so they all change into outdoor wear as soon as they leave the house.
Instead, here is a picture of Calvin, cheering at his reflection in the mirror - obviously, he really likes the hairstyle I have chosen for him so that he does not look like his older brother's twin.

Catherine and Carmelo boost their fun with a game of punch you punch me before school.

On returning home, Ned Newson is with them. The snow is all gone, and Charles has hours of fun jumping around in a puddle on the front lawn.

Desdemona and Beau are the first ones to get up on Friday morning.

The kids all don their school uniforms and wait indoors for the bus; it is spring already, but still rather cold outside.

Friday is also the first day this week that Beau goes to work - as an accomplished World Class Ballet Dancer, and especially at his age, he does not have to do that many performances any more.

We find Beau having a nice hot bath early on Saturday morning. He is now 80, and I fear he will not be around all that much longer.

The kids don't have to go to school today, and Charles makes pancakes for everyone - as a Knowledge Sim, he is always eager to improve his skills.

Later, the whole family take a taxi to Doc Alan's Hangout.

At the microphone, Beau is a big hit with his wife and children. As a World Class Ballet Dancer, of course he knows how to pull off a great performance - even though it is singing now instead of dancing.

Doesn't Carmelo look real cute there, in his "rocky" outfit and hairstyle, but sweet boy face?

Back home, the kids retreat to their rooms, Beau's limousine picks him up for work, and Desdemona writes in her diary.

On Sunday morning, she fondly looks at Catherine, her eldest, her only daughter. "My girl... so close to adulthood now, when it seems like only yesterday that she was a toddler with her sunny smile and golden hair!"

Carmelo wishes for a guitar, and a guitar it is! The larger balcony at the front of the house turns into an impromptu open-air concert venue.

Later, Catherine slips a pretty dress on and greets her auntie Ariel (her mother's sister) and Carolina Capp - not showing as a relative in the family tree, but somehow part of the large Capp clan.

It is her birthday, and the cake is there in the kitchen, ready for Catherine to blow out the candles.

Ouch - that counter must hurt, standing like that! Only a graphics bug, of course; here she is, Catherine after her transition from teenager to woman.
The wish to go to college did not return, and so I did not send her. Interestingly, now the first wish she rolls after growing up is to move out.

But first things first - I put a computer in her room, and have her look for a job. There is no position available in the Media career, though, and so she shall be trying her luck again next time I play this family.

Beau is still around, but his lifetime bar is as good as full.
The second of the kids, Charles, wants to go to college but still has three days or so left as a teenager. Carmelo, too, is thinking of college already, in spite of being several years younger than Charles. And even the youngest, Calvin, wants to follow his brothers to college eventually. I wonder if the wish will stick!

The Beaker-Singles Household - Week 10

Click here for week 9 with this household.

Another Maxis-made house that looks nice but has its faults - for instance, many of the box hedges can not be trimmed, because they are blocked by low walls. Nevertheless, I like playing here.

It was not all that long ago that we last spent a week here; now we are back already for the next surname on my list: Beaker, as in Beta Beaker. She is now an elderly lady of 59 and extremely happy with Jihoon Hsu, a townie that appeared last round when she asked the Matchmaker for a blind date. Jihoon turned out to be a 3-bolt-match, and was therefore allowed to move in once the relationship was good enough.

Beta is on Permanent Platinum and has been that way ever since she had 20 best friends, which happened 25 days before her reaching Elderhood. Jihoon is much younger and dreams of becoming Chief of Staff.

Shaun Singles was the reason for our previous visit here. Like Beta, he met his 3-bolt-match with the help of the Matchmaker and was allowed to have her move in, although Brittany Mace began life in my game as an NPC, a dorm cook.
Shaun is 62 and Brittany 57. He is PermaPlat, too, while Brittany will most likely never have 20 best pet friends.

On this Monday, Jihoon and Beta become engaged as per Jihoon's wish.

Brittany meets and greets the wolf Alegra, with passers-by Cataldo Capp looking on. I really don't know what's so funny about a lady petting a dog, but that's teenagers for you!

On Tuesday morning, Shaun makes omelettes for everyone, on his own accord of course.

Jihoon is once again not successful in his quest for a job in the medical career.

Brittany meets & greets a small stray dog named - you guessed it - Balin.

Shaun used up the last of their groceries for his omelettes, and so I send the four to a community lot to buy groceries.

It still rains on their return from the shopping trip, but Brittany only goes inside quickly to put the groceries away and then straight back out to greet Tramp, the beautiful white wolf.

Not much happens on Wednesday: Jihoon does not find a job...

...Brittany meets and greets Noodle, a stray cat...

...who immediately finds the comfiest armchair in the house...

...and all four housemates have dinner together.

It is Thursday, and the house guest Shaun has invited to stay with them for three days has arrived: Jonathan Turner. They must have met during a holiday, but back then I did not look for Sims with the surname Turner to add to New Maximiliania.

One of Beta's many half-siblings, Jacqueline Newson, walks by and is fondly greeted.

It was Brittany's wish to own a tent, and since the park-like garden is so big, I place one underneath a large tree. Very early on Friday morning, I realise that houseguest Jonathan has chosen this of all places to sleep - never mind that there is a comfortable bed in the computer room!

Maybe Shaun felt nostalgic about his time at uni, where sponge baths were nothing unusual - I find him doing just that in the open-plan kitchen and dining area, while of course all bath tubs and showers in the house are unoccupied.

Brittany meets and greets Bailey, but is not very successful in her attempt at befriending him.

A delicious meal of freshly caught fish from their own pond gathers the housemates and their guest at the dining table.

Late that evening, Beta decides to do some gardening, while Brittany works on resupplying their stock of fish in the fridge.

Again, I am fulfilling one of Brittany's wishes when I start a vegetable plot off the back porch and let Brittany plant tomatoes.

All day, no stray cats, dogs or wolves visit the lot. Only late in the afternoon, a multi-coloured cat called Kim appears. By the time it is dark, Kim is Brittany's first pet friend (not best friend yet).

Beta cleans up the dining table after everyone has had their fill of chef salad.

Sunday is a beautiful summer's day, a real SUNday. It is also the day I have decided to make Jihoon's big wish come true: to marry Beta.

The guests may not look all that happy, but don't worry, they are fine. From left to right, we have here Tessa Ramirez, Charlie and Tina Cho, Heather Huffington and Ryker Love.

The happy couple, seconds before they become Mr. and Mrs. Beaker :-)

Even a skunk made it to the wedding :-D
And good job that house guest Jonathan Turner remembered to pack a formal three-piece suit... just in case!

The wedding cake is cut, and enjoyed by everyone.

And as if a wedding wasn't enough to end the week on a bright note, Jonathan accepts Shaun's invitation to stay for good:

Jonathan Turner
former NPC tourist
Family Sim; wants to marry off six children
unemployed; low skill profile

I let him stay at the Beaker-Singles house for now. There is enough room here, and he can focus on his quest for a suitable mother of the six children he intends to have.

This was a fun week with a combination of Sims I control and others I don't; a large house and big garden, so that there was always something to do. I wasn't sure Shaun and Jonathan's friendship was going to be firm enough by the end of the week to make him move in, but it worked out. Also, it was nice to throw a wedding party - haven't had one in a while!

Now I hope that Jihoon will finally find a job in the medical career so that he can start working at his lifetime want in earnest.