Sunday 15 January 2012

Speak, see, remember

Round 32: November 2036 (Spring)
last update/next update

Araminta Romilly is 73, Finn and Victoria are both 35, Declan is 15, Caitlin is 13 and Keira is 5.
(Jesse is 51, Claudia is 35, Louisa is 16, Justin, Xavier and Austin is 15 and Daphne is 5)

Narrated by Declan Romilly

A part-time job is a non-negotiable in our family and Dad definitely made sure enough that Caitlin and I were both aware of this.

He and Mum both think it’s very important that we learn how to handle money and to get experience in the workforce while we’re still young.

Caitlin isn’t too thrilled about the idea and always screws up her nose when the topic is raised. But she has a while before she’s even allowed to get a job anyway.

It doesn’t bother me though, as I was always planning on getting a job. It will look really good on my application to Suffolk, when that time comes.

So now I work at a help line a few afternoons a week after school. It’s for kids and teens, so the people who ring up are mostly around my age.

If I get a call about anything really hardcore, I have to transfer it to my supervisor, Tamara. I had some training before I started but Tamara has actual counselling qualifications.

She says she’s very pleased with how I’m doing though. She keeps prodding me to see if I want a career in social work once I finish college but I don’t think I’d be interested in that. I’ve got other plans.

My friend Austin also works there, in a lower paid position than mine. It’s his job to check people in and send them to the appropriate departments.

I keep telling him he should work a little harder so he can join me but he’s not interested. He’s content to just coast, at school and now at work too.

Grandma was a bit worried about me working at the social services office. It’s in a not-so-great part of town and she was scared something bad would happen to me.

Mum put her mind at ease a bit though, when she told her the aquarium was about a block away and the area the office is in is actually not terribly bad.

There’s not much chance of anything happening to us. When we’re going to work, Austin and I always walk there together.

And on the way home, we don’t even leave the building until Austin’s dad is there. Our family doesn’t have a car, so he drives us both home.

Now that I’m working, the job of entertaining Keira after school mostly falls to Caitlin.

Grandma is always around but she can’t get down on the floor to play with Keira like Caitlin can.

Caitlin doesn’t mind much, because she and Keira get on pretty well.

I think she secretly likes having an excuse to play dollhouse again anyway.

Caitlin and I both begged Mum and Dad for a younger brother or sister for years and Keira has been a lot of fun.

She can definitely be annoying at times but mostly, there’s such a big gap between us that there’s not so much to fight about.

She likes Daphne way better than she likes Caitlin or me though. Whenever Daphne is over, those two are inseparable.

Mum was worried that because of the age gap between us and Keira, that Keira wouldn't have that close sibling relationship she has with Aunt Claudia.

As it turns out though, Keira and Daphne are about as close as a lot of sisters are.

I’m close with my cousins Justin and Xavier like Keira is with Daphne. We’re all in the same grade at school, so along with Austin, we’ve always done everything together.

The owner of the comic book store must be sick of us all by now. We’re in there a lot and we browse more than we ever actually buy.

We all work but none of us make that much money, so we don't have as much to spend on comic books as we'd like.

Lately, Austin’s new girlfriend Violet has been around a lot too.

Violet is okay, I guess. She’s nice enough but I don’t quite get her. She’s always telling these dirty jokes and I’ve never really found that kind of thing all that funny. She also likes fart jokes, which I also don't think are funny.

All that stuff is right up Austin’s alley though and that’s what counts.

He and Violet have been together a couple of months now and I know Austin is pretty happy with her.

Justin has been with Louisa for about two years, which is hard to believe. It doesn’t seem like it’s been that long.

Now that Austin and Justin both have girlfriends, it means Xavier and I get ditched occasionally but I don’t mind too much.

I sometimes feel a little strange that I’m the only one of us who’s never had a girlfriend. I do like someone but she’s with somebody else.

It’s not Louisa either, like Austin thinks. It’s Jessica. I never knew Jessica much at all until this year but we often seem to end up studying in the library at the same time lately.

I was a little annoyed by the distraction at first but I like it now.

Jessica is really great to talk to. She’s so smart and very sweet, which surprised me. Her best friend Emma is not really like that at all.

She often talks about her boyfriend, Noah, who’s away at college, so I’m positive that this crush is completely one-sided.

I would love to ask Jessica out sometime but there’s not much I can do about that right now. I'll just have to be satisfied being friends with Jessica and maybe hold onto the distant hope that we might both be single at the same time in the future.

Notes:
  • Title is from Speak, See, Remember by Pavement.
  • First of all, don't mind the blue border around all these pics! I normally crop them out with Fast Stone but I don't know if I just forgot or if it glitched this time.
  • The lot where Declan works is County Social Services, made by the lovely prudencepureheart at N99 as part of last year's Share a Lot project. I couldn't remember if I'd installed the lot yet or not but was so happy to find I had. It fit right into an awkward blank space in my dodgy part of town and was pretty much perfect as is.
  • Oh my God, I have never had a Sim fart as much as this Violet character does! Declan is revolted by her (the Romilly kids are all neat-freaks - Caitlin is the family slob with a mere 7 neat points, lol) and Austin thinks it's hilarious!
  • Declan wasn't interested in dating at all until this round but he rolled the want for his first kiss and has been rolling less significant wants (flirt and date wants, mostly) for Jessica. :( She's still quite into Noah though, so any romance between Jessica and Declan is not likely at the moment.

18 comments:

  1. Wow, Declan having a crush on Jessica was unexpected and I couldn't help but giggle that Caitlin is the slob at 7 neat points!!! Wow, I bet their house is nice and clean ALL the time.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Unexpected for me too but I was waiting for Declan to show an interest in somebody. The poor boy would have to pick a girl with a boyfriend, of course.

      Yeah, of the kids, Caitlin is absolutely the "slob". Although, I just remembered Victoria is kind of on the slob side herself - she's only got 4 neat points. :)

      Thanks for reading!

      Delete
  2. First of all, I really really can't believe Declan is 15!!! At the beginning of the update (I forgot to read the ages), I was thinking he was only 12 of 13 or something! I never thought he was 15!! I checked 3 times, lol!

    I really love how you take your sims to their work, it's nice to see them in their work environment.

    So Declan had a crush on Jessica... well you never know what can happen, he might be lucky someday. They do make a cute couple :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I know, it's a little crazy, huh? Next round will be Declan's last as a teen!

      This work set-up was very last minute; I already had the house loaded and ducked back out to see if I had that lot installed. Glad you enjoyed it!

      Personality-wise, Declan and Jessica make a good pair, which is probably why they get on so well. We'll have to see what happens with them in the future.

      Thanks for reading!

      Delete
  3. Declan is so cute. I am kind of shocked that his crush is on Jessica. That must be hard for him, neither of them seem like the type that would fool around. Hopefully, he can find someone more attainable.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. I think Declan might be one of my most adorable Sims, still at 15. I love him. But no, he's not the type to move in on another boy's girlfriend and Jessica's not the cheating type either. We'll see if someone else catches Declan's eye.

      Thanks for reading!

      Delete
  4. Declan is such a cutie. I hope he can find a crush that's available so he doesn't have to be the fifth wheel.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. I hope so too! Poor Declan is getting quite desperate for his first kiss but there aren't many available candidates around. ;)

      Thanks for reading!

      Delete
  5. Violet and Austen are cute! Haha, there's just something about shared fart jokes. I love Declan's reaction. Ah, neat Sims. I sort of miss them.

    Poor Declan though. Now he's interested in girls and it happens to be one who's already taken? Man, being a teen is tough.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. I imagine a girl who likes fart jokes would be pretty appealing to a boy like Austin! For a neat and serious boy like Declan though, the appeal is a bit of a mystery. Declan is definitely his father's son!

      I'm hoping another girl will catch Declan's eye. He has bad luck, I guess. It took him a while to get interested in girls (so not so much his father's son in that arena!) and now that he is, they're mostly taken!

      Thanks for reading!

      Delete
  6. It has to be hard to be the last one to start noticing girls in a group of teen boys. It's really too bad that his crush is so committed to someone else. :(

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Declan is probably feeling just the tiniest bit left out at the moment, being the least experienced of his friends. I could help him out with that, if he was interested in anyone besides Jessica! There are a few cute townie girls floating around the place. :)

      Thanks for reading!

      Delete
  7. Awww, Declan, my boy... Falling in love with the girl with boyfriend, of course... *sigh* But I love when such things happen because they're so realistic! It's nice to see the kids growing up, having job, and so on. :)

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Sigh, I know, poor Declan! The only girl he likes and she's unavailable. I do like these kinds of things too, for the same reason as you. You can't help who you fall in love with in real life either and unfortunately, those people might sometimes be already attached! I'll be keeping an eye on Jessica, Noah and Declan though, to see what happens between them.

      Thanks for reading!

      Delete
  8. Lol, Declan scoffing at Violet's fart jokes! What kind of 15 year-old boy is he?! ;) That is too funny she farts like that though!

    He is so much like his father, isn't he? Except Finn and Victoria were well experienced by Declan's age! Aww, you know, I can definitely see him getting stuck on an older girl. (At least, I think I remember her being older, lol! Is she?) Seems to me he'd find the girls his own age far too immature.

    Also, hi!!! Taking the night to catch up on some blogs, so I thought I'd just jump in somewhere, lol!

    ReplyDelete
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    1. LOL, Declan is a deadly serious, neat freak teenage boy! I would say probably just about every other boy at his school would think Violet was pretty hilarious. None of them have that neat/serious combo that Declan has.

      I was thinking the same thing when I was playing this family. Declan and Finn are really similar, except for the fact that Finn was not even close to being a late bloomer like Declan has been. And yeah, Jessica is a year older. She'll be off at college by the time I play this family next.

      Ha, hi! Jump in anywhere, you know I don't mind, lol!

      Thanks for reading!

      Delete
  9. How funny that Declan is revolted by Violet! Its better that then him crushing on her. Poor guy, finally gets a crush and she's taken, plenty of time though, ether her or someone else. Love Per's lot! I haven't gotten to play it with Kenzie yet. I really like this family, super cute. I'm glad that they had kiera at the same time as Daphne, it worked out perfectly. I like them forcing the kids to get jobs, I think their reactions are perfext too! All their kids are so unique.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. True, at least this way, Declan and Austin aren't likely to fight over the same girl, lol! If Jessica and Noah break up, maybe Declan would be in with a shot. They do get along well.

      Keira and Daphne being born so close together worked out well. I wasn't sure I'd get anything like that happening with Claudia and Victoria's kids, seeing Victoria got such an early start!

      Both being Fortune/Family Sims, Finn and Victoria are both quite keen on instilling financial responsibility into their kids. I love this family!

      Thanks for reading!

      Delete