Friday 26 March 2010

Fake plastic trees

Round 25: Spring 2022
last update/next update/Ethan's next update

Charlton and Aphrodite Nihill are both 77, James Novak is 47, Madelyn is 42, Ethan is 16 and Connor is 9.
(Sarah is 17)

Narrated by Ethan Novak

I'm having a really crappy time this spring. I've been plagued by acne, first of all. As soon it one breakout clears, another one arrives the next day.

Sarah's been acting really odd too. It used to be pretty easy for us to talk but now she always seems to get this weird look on her face before she responds.

That's if she's even listening. Half the time, she's so distracted and I can tell she can't hear a word I'm saying.

When I ask her, Sarah keeps saying nothing is wrong when but it doesn't feel like that. I've never known her to act like this before.

So we haven't been hanging out as much as we normally do. I've kind of been stuck tossing the football around with Connor.

He used to play with Grandma but he says she's no challenge any more. So I always end up relenting because I know he's often felt left out of stuff Aaron and I get to do. There's a pretty big age difference, so Connor and I aren't really as close as we could be.

We don't really have a lot in common. Maybe as we get older, we'll find some common ground. I really don't care about sports and Connor has no interest in insects.

I was out looking for insects when Sarah came by to really top off my awesome spring.

I had a feeling I knew what was coming and after she said she wanted to break up, I sort of tuned out.

When she started talking about the reason she wanted to break up, that got my attention again! She's leaving for college in a few months and she thinks a year is too long to wait for me.

I felt pretty great hearing that. A year doesn't seem like that long to me. I guess it's easy to say but I like to think if I was in her position, I would have waited.

Sarah's much more outgoing than I am though, and I guess she wants to be single in case she meets some college guy. She just wants to be friends with me.

I think one of the worst things about it was we broke up in the front yard, and Dad came home right in the middle of it. He just walked straight in the house, so I was hoping maybe he wasn't listening or didn't hear.

Yeah, no such luck. He couldn't have heard everything but he heard enough and he just had to ask me about it.

I know he was trying to help but I just really don't feel like talking about it right now. Not with Dad, anyway. I don't know...it's embarrassing talking about that kind of stuff with your parents. I think I'm just lucky Mum wasn't out there. She wouldn't have let up about it.

Sarah has called a few times but I haven't spoken to her. I got Grandma to say I wasn't there. I'll talk to her eventually but I don't feel like it right now.

I called Aaron and spoke to him about it though. I tend to be a little cagey about sharing personal stuff with people but I tell Aaron pretty much everything. I'm really glad he'll still be there when I start college - he'll be a senior when I enter as a freshman.


Notes:
  • Title is from Fake Plastic Trees by Radiohead. Today, I listened to almost nothing but Radiohead, so the title didn't have much of a chance of coming from any other artist!
  • Don't forget to vote in the election in the side bar, if you haven't already. James wants you to vote for him but I'm happy for any of these three to be the next governor of Sullivan, so I'm not fussed. :) I haven't even voted myself! I'm saving my vote in case we get a tie.
  • If you're wondering, this is the same house but I've redecorated. I redid the office for James's campaign photo and I went a little crazy and redid most of the house while I was at it. I was getting bored of all the red. A lot of my houses are decorated a bit lazily, because I wasn't always as into decorating as I am now. I'm really enjoying it lately though, so I'm upgrading some of the more boring houses as I come across them.
  • So Ethan kind of took over this update but I was mostly focusing on him and everyone else was sort of doing their own thing. I almost had a little campaign fundraiser for James but my computer was groaning so I decided against it!
  • Ethan and Sarah don't really roll wants for each other, so Ethan will get over this pretty quickly, I think. They're the lowest chemistry couple in my game - their attraction score is a whopping 11! I think one bolt kicks in at 10, so they're only just barely attracted to each other at all. There are better matches out there for both of them!
  • Ethan got into college and he'll be my second guinea pig for the new tuition (Sarah will be the first). He earned 6 scholarships, so his tuition will be less than Sarah's. I'm pretty sure Matilda will be starting at the same time but I still have to check her skills to see how much her dad will be forking out for her!

15 comments:

  1. Aww, poor Ethan :( He'll get over it though, and his acne will eventually clear up... at least I hope so :) But really, 11 attraction? I don't know if they'll ever get over eachother!XD
    Yikes, that tuition is going to hurt though, his family still has a little time to save up though.

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  2. Tessa, thanks for reading!

    Ethan's just having a tough time right now - I don't think high school is fun for most people. But yep...a whole 11! A match made in heaven, right?

    The tuition is expensive and will definitely hurt some families but it's barely going to make a dent in James and Madelyn's bank account. They've got roughly $200,000 in their household funds and I think James earns about $2000 a day as a business tycoon!

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  3. Poor Ethan! But if she breaks up with him for such a reason, he maybe better off without her. Even though, it still is a break up, and Ethan is the one beind dumped, so he has the right to be upset about it!
    I hope Connor finds some friends soon, I understand a 9-year old doesn't want to play with his grandma all the time, but soon his brother will leave for college and he will need to find some one else to hang around with.

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  4. Oh, I forgot to ask; where did you get the small bookcases you have in James' office?

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  5. Tanja, I think it's better for Ethan and Sarah to make the clean break now, rather than have Ethan think they'll stay together once he gets to college.

    Connor has friends but he just really likes hanging out with his big brother. He's good buddies with Jack and Charlie Benton, who are a year older than him.

    The bookcases in James's office are from MTS. You can get them here:

    http://www.modthesims.info/download.php?t=383825

    They're actually empty and you fill them yourself with the deco books (you get those from the same thread). If you run a search for "emptied", you'll find two other styles of bookcase, also emptied and you can use the same books in those.

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  6. Poor guy. He is having a rough time. It's nice that Ethan's getting to spend some time with Connor before he leaves for college, although I'm sure Connor will be happier when he makes some friends of his own.

    So it sounds like you are for James? What did you have in mind for a fundraiser?

    It is fun re-decorating!

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  7. I want to give Ethan a hug. I guess Sarah wants to be able to be free to explore the new crop of men she will encounter in university.

    Ethan and Sarah sound like my Verde and S'Ahmisa. Never rolling wants for each other-but their chemistry was amazing.

    I would love to see the campaign fundraiser as well. I love it when bloggers make sense of the MAXIS careers and such.

    I've been redecorating lately, but mostly the owned business lots, like the school and administration office so it has more personality.

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  8. Francesca, he is, but I think he'll be alright. I've got plans for him, though they're not going to kick in for some time.

    Connor has friends but he just really likes hanging out with his brothers. He rolls up lots of wants for Ethan and he rolled up a lot for Aaron when he was at home.

    I am actually not for anyone, regarding the election. I'd honestly be happy for any of the candidates to win - I wouldn't have chosen them if I wasn't. James is in the lead right now, but it's very close between him and Athena.

    For a fundraiser, I was going to have a formal party at the house but I'm not sure now. I might do one next election but I probably won't go with that exact idea. I'm still mulling it around in my head - I've got plenty of time now.

    Apple, yeah, I think that's it for Sarah. Like Ethan, I've got some plans for her too but again, it's not happening for a while.

    It's always a little sad when the high chemistry couples stop rolling wants for each other. It's not such a surprise with a pair like Ethan and Sarah.

    I'll do some kind of fundraiser next election. Right now, I'm just really keen to get through this round and finish it!

    More personality is exactly what I'm trying to inject in my lots. It makes them so much more interesting to play, I find.

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  9. Poor Ethan, he's hurt now but I'm sure he'll be fine in time. That's a pretty low chemistry so maybe there's something better waiting around the corner for both of them.

    I love the way you decorate. Each house looks so different, mine always end up looking pretty much the same because I use the same furniture everywhere.

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  10. Sari, it's his first break-up, so it'll hurt for a little while. Ethan will come to see that Sarah's not his best match anyway.

    And thank you! I have to say though, I never notice all your houses looking the same, so you must disguise the same furniture pretty well! ;)

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  11. Ha, I'm the master of disguise. Hmm, I think I've started using different furniture now that I have a ton of Maxis recolors from Piggi's sims.

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  12. It seems like he had a little glimmer of hope there when she said she was breaking up with him because of college. Like maybe he's thinking he might be able to try again once he's in college with her.

    Ah hope! Poor kid though. He'll find someone else. They were a good practice run.

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  13. Lunar, I don't know if Ethan's that optimistic! He likely thinks Sarah will have moved on by the time he gets there. I think he's reading her loud and clear here.

    But yeah, a practice run. He'll have a better idea about relationships when he gets his next girlfriend. I'm going to be quite annoyed if it happens autonomously before I'm planning it to though! LOL.

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  14. mmm love radiohead *heart farts*

    As for Ethan, oh my gosh!!! POOR guy!! Geez... when it rains it pours, and that poor dude had a thunderstorm following his head.

    At least they have low chemistry, he should find a better match at some point, and be happy that him and Josie split it off.

    His face though on the sofa with his dad was freaking priceless! I lol'd.

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  15. Maisie, I know, it's really just regular teenage stuff but it's a pretty big deal for him right now.

    There are definitely better matches for Ethan than Sarah. ;) And better matches for her than Ethan as well.

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