Week 1 with the Goths is here.
It is Christmas - and a very white one at that - when we arrive at the Goth villa in Pleasantview. Last time we saw the family they were celebrating Father Christmas' arrival and tucking into the Santa cookies Mortimer had lovingly prepared.
Here he is, having just served a plate of cookies to Santa himself. He is now on his way to bed.
But what's that? As he reaches the upstairs landing, a hodded figure wearing a flower wreath and carrying a scythe is waiting for him at the top of the stairs, and a Hula dancer resembling his lost wife Bella is with him.
Yes, poor Mortimer is handed his very last cocktail. He is only 65 but the grief and sorrow after his wife's disappearance has made him age prematurely.
Alexander was already in bed but got up when he heard the faint Hula music from the staircase. The boy is now an orphan, with his big sister the only family left.
Cassandra arrived home from her shift at the hospital just as Mr. Reaper took her Dad to the Great Community Lot in the sky. The poor woman crumples in a heap right next to the front door.
Thankfully, the Shrink appears quickly and helps her up. After a quick treatment, her aspiration level is still at rock bottom, but at least she is able to go inside and to bed.
At daybreak, Mortimer's tombstone is erected on the small family cemetery in one corner of the large garden.
Cassandra's next shift only starts in the evening, and it's a Snow Day for Alexander. The siblings take a taxi to H&M where they make sure the boy has an adequate wardrobe for the cold season.
Also, Cass still hopes to bump into Don Lothario - her two biggest wishes now are to resurrect her Dad (which won't happen) and to get engaged to Darren Dreamer. But because her previous engagement with Don was never formally dissolved, she can't propose to Darren or accept his proposal, and as long as Don refuses to see her (he "politely declines" each of her daily invitations to come to the house or meet somewhere), there is nothing she can do about it.
Back home, Alex is glad to change into his cosy new cardigan and warmer jeans.
He is always on the lookout for potential girlfriends - after all, his lifetime want is to have 20 lovers - and rushes out when he spots an unknown teenager walk by. "Hi, I'm Kiera," she announces. But they don't get along at all, and so Alex quickly asks Kiera to leave.
That night, three of the Goth ladies' ghosts appear; first, Gretle (Cassandra and Alexander's paternal great-grandmother) and later Cornelia (grandmother) and Agnes Crumplebottom (Cornelia's sister and the young generations' great-aunt). As before, none of the ghosts enters the house.
Since his Dad died, Alexander doesn't sleep well and has been getting up very early. Tuesday is like that, too. Since he - typical Knowledge Sim, in spite of his lifetime want more apt for a Romance Sim - wishes to see a ghost and there are again several ghostly ancestors roaming the garden, I send him out there. But can you believe he does not SEE them in spite of them floating right in front of him?
The day goes by unremarkably. Alexander goes to school, Cassandera works on her skills during the day, asks - unsuccessfully - Don to come over to talk and eventually leaves for work. Alexander is already in bed when Mortimer's ghost appears in the house, right at the spot where he died. But does he wake his son which would fulfill the boy's wish to see a ghost? No, he does not.
In the very early hours of Wednesday morning, Cassandra returns from work with a promotion to GP. She'll know have to work hard to acquire several more skill points, and because her aspiration is still deep red, she can't use the Thinking Cap.
Her working hours have changed now with the new job, and so Mary-Sue Pleasant's surprise visit goes unnoticed.
Had she come by a little later, Alexander would have been home from school. He asks his best friend Lucy Burb over.
Cassandra is back early in the evening and immediately tackles the broken tap in one of the two upstairs bathrooms. There is more money than the siblings will ever need, but she does need mechanical skill for her career, and therefore prefers to do the job herself instead of calling the repair service.
Downstairs, Alex tries to impress Lucy: "Watch me feeding the fish!" Oh Alex... when will you learn how to REALLY impress a girl?
On Thursday, a previously unknown girl gets off the school bus with Alexander. Allison Cameron seems to like him more than he likes her - she tries to flirt with him (he has a crossed-out bolt for her), which he does not accpet, and admires him, which he does. He's giving her the fish tank treatment, by the looks of it :-D
And apparently, that wasn't such a bad idea, since Allison is fascinated and watches the fish for quite a long time. Meanwhile, Lucy Burb has come visiting on her own accord and is joined at the chess table by Denise Jacquet, who just happened to walk past when Alexander opened the door for Lucy. He is upstairs doing his homework, by the way.
He finally finishes his homework and gets bowls of leftover Mac & Cheese on the table. Allison expresses her wish to become best friends. Well, so far she and Alexander aren't even friends yet, let alone best ones.
Cassandra is lucky with a chance card on Friday, gaining a promotion to Specialist.
But this also means that for her next promotion she needs to gain a total of NINE skill points - and since it is spring (not autumn when skilling is much faster) plus she is mostly at green aspiration, not gold (which would allow her to use the Thinking Cap), it'll take her a while to achieve that.
She has the weekend off, and of course there is no school on Saturday and Sunday, either. Alexander has been learning to cook and is turning into quite the young gourmet. He surprises his big sister with delicious omelettes for breakfast. "These are lovely, Alex! Thank you!"
Later, she invites Darren over, and for lunch they have leftover omelettes, toasting Cassandra's last couple of promotions.
Darren and Alex sit and talk for a while. "You know I really care about your sister and would like for us to become a family," he says. The boy nods. He, too, cares about his sister and wants her to be happy.
Lucy comes visiting on her own accord in the afternoon.
Just as Alex greets her, who should walk by but Don Lothario! The boy quickly rushes out to greet him. He knows Cass has been wanting to get hold of him all week, trying to dissolve their engagement.
Don comes in, and they argue and argue and argue, and then argue some more, but although first the red and then the pink hearts disappear, their relationship is still shown as "best friends for life", and the option to break up does not appear. Eventually, Don leaves, and an exhausted and disappointed Cassandra goes to bed.
That really was a shame - i was so hoping things would be sorted now between these two so that Cass and Darren can pursue their wish to become a proper family. I hope very much that when it is time to play Don, he'll be able to break up with Cassandra.
Her career is hard work, too, but I don't doubt she'll reach her lifetime want eventually.
Alexander has not achieved anything in view of his lifetime want, but to be honest he has not made a huge effort, and the fish tank treatment is certainly not the surest way to a girl's heart - whereas serving tasty food can be :-)
Next is Bella Goth in Strangetown.
