Friday 18 June 2010

Keep the car running

Round 27: Spring 2025
last update/Rebecca's next update/next update

Trent Kirby is 55, Megan is 53 and Rebecca is 16.
(Claudia and Victoria are both 24 and Tessa is 16)

Narrated by Rebecca Kirby

Last week, I was officially accepted into university. I earned 5 scholarships and I'm so excited! I rarely talk about anything else.

I think my parents are already preparing to get rid of me. They're flirting all over the place, all the time.

It's really disgusting. I'm trying to ignore it.

I'm under no illusions that leaving for college is going to mean Mum will let up about anything, ever. The nagging has commenced already.

I'm not allowed to go to the campus bar, because it's dingy and dirty. I'm actually not allowed to drink at all, because then I'll flunk out of university and waste my life. She's so paranoid.

Mum also doesn't want me to have a double room in the dorm, because then I'll end up getting pregnant or at least having sex.

I guess she's a little late to stop that though. I always thought I'd put off sex until college but I was assuming that it'd be with Gabriel. But he's going to college on the other side of the country now and there's no guarantee he'll come back to Sullivan after graduation. Seeing I wanted my first time to be with someone I really knew, we decided to do it now.

I don't regret it at all, even though in just over a year, we might not see each other again. We're ending on a good note, so I'm trying not to be too sad about it.

I told Tessa right away because she's my best friend. But she's the only one who knows.

She won't tell and Gabriel doesn't even really know anyone from our school, except for Tessa, so there's no one for him to tell. It is imperative that this doesn't get back to my mother!

She doesn't seem to suspect anything but then again, she's totally immersing herself in Victoria's wedding. She doesn't have time to worry about anything else.

You'd think it was her wedding, seriously. She keeps trying to get Dad involved in the wedding planning but he's happy to take a back seat with that.

He's happy just to listen when Victoria comes over for dinner.

Dad is still running the market but I haven't had to work there in ages. Saying I wanted to focus on my studies this year really worked out well for me!

If I can help it, I'll never set foot in that place again. I think Claudia's crazy. She's dying to take it over once Dad retires.


Dad doesn't really need to go into the market very often because he has a full time manager but he's been working there a lot lately. It means he gets to escape all the wedding drama Mum is starting.

Mum is driving Victoria absolutely insane. The wedding is only a couple of weeks away and Mum is still coming up with "great ideas" that she thinks Victoria should include.

And it's all fancy stuff like fountains and violinists that Finn and Victoria can't afford, even if it was their style.

I honestly don't know how Victoria has restrained herself from tearing Mum's head off. I would go nuts on her, I swear.

Well, maybe not. She really and truly thinks she's helping. Victoria will get the wedding she wants anyway, because it's too late to really change or add anything.

These days, Mum and Victoria are getting along a lot better. Mum is still a nag and I think she always will be but it's easier to hear the affection behind the nagging now.

Yesterday, we had to go to the bridal centre for hair and make-up trials. I was dreading it because I really hate people messing around with my hair and face. But I'm a good sister, so I didn't complain.

And Victoria was pretty happy with her make-up, so maybe it wouldn't be so bad.

But I am just super-suspicious of anyone waving a powder puff and a pair of scissors in my face.

I could tell it hadn't gone well before I saw myself. The stylist was slathering everything on so thick and she was even doing something up near my eyebrows, which was weird.

She didn't want to show me the mirror but I insisted and then wished I hadn't. I looked so ridiculous!

It took me so long to wash off all that crap in the bathroom. It really was thick! I know I said I was a good sister but I had to object to this! I'll be doing my own make-up for the wedding and it'll look a hell of a lot better than anything that so-called stylist could manage.

Notes:
  • Title is from Keep the Car Running by The Arcade Fire.
  • Trent and Megan are actually usually very affectionate around the house but they seemed extra loved up this round. It was Ben and Caterina levels of woohoo going on at the old Kirby farm house! I actually had to check I didn't have the lot set to Brothel or something, LOL.
  • Originally, I'd been planning to send Gabriel away to college and he'd stay with Rebecca a little while. She's got 3 bolts with someone else and only one with him, so they probably weren't going to end up married or anything but I hadn't planned on breaking them up so early. But in the middle of the play session, Gabriel's face suddenly reverted back to the original fug face that he had (he's had surgery). So instead of trying to fix it, which I don't know how to do anyway, I figured I'd just write him out now. That's why there is a lack of pics of poor old Gabriel. He and Rebecca actually hung out a lot this round!
  • I had figured Rebecca for the type who might wait a while, considering what happened with Victoria and that's how I was thinking of her last round. She had other ideas however; ACR strikes again! I guess it makes sense that she could feel differently about sex, once the idea becomes attached to a real, live person. Fortunately, she has 10 neat points, so she was sensible and organised enough to get herself on some birth control before doing the deed!
  • Victoria and Megan talk without arguing about 50% of the time. Which works well for me because it means I never have to wait long for them to start doing one or the other, whichever I need pics of. When they're together, they roll wants for each other, which I find quite cute. Rebecca is actually way worse with Megan than Victoria is. It should be interesting to watch their relationship if Rebecca ever does anything that Megan doesn't like!
  • Everything is ready for Finn and Victoria's wedding - expect the actual wedding post in the next few days. :D I'm very excited!

15 comments:

  1. Yay! I'm all stoked for the wedding now :P

    Poor Rebecca, she seems to have the whole world on her shoulders, or at least so her teenage mind thinks :P That makeup job was pretty bad though, so I can understand a little of where she's coming from.

    Oh my, Megan just can't resist can she? Is she a grouchy sim by any chance, or is she just like that?

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  2. Ugh, I can see Rebecca giving her mother pure hell once she's in college, but then again moms must realize that they can't control everything :P I'm so excited about the wedding, even though I didn't get an invite ;P

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  3. Megan would not be impressed with miss rebecca. Poor fugly Gabriel. Such a shame. How curious that it reverted. That's a first I've heard of that.

    I always tookrebecca as the kind of girl who thinks, "that won't happen to me." so I Wasnt surprised she's already hooked up.

    Hope u dnt mind OT but I'm so excited with the parents adopting Adrienne baby. I forgot about them and was thinking of Cal but I did t see them ready. I got all my reading caught up while in the car. :)

    I can tell your on holiday! Wish you always were. I'm enjoying the updates.

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  4. I can't hardly wait to see the wedding. From what I've seen in these pictures, it will be great!

    In the first picture, Rebecca looks so much like Claudia from that angle, I almost thought Claudia was sitting at the table instead of Rebecca.
    Poor Rebecca trying to be a good sister, and ending up with a stylist who totally ruined it all!

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  5. ROFL that she doesn't want Rebecca getting a double in college. I love parents they make me giggle. To bad about Gabriel's face, but like you said, they were breaking up anyways.

    I'm glad she got on birth control. Could you imagine Megan dealing with that? I think she would go crazy.

    Can't wait for the wedding!

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  6. Megan just doesn't know when to stop. She's already seen that she can't control her children once they move out but that doesn't mean she'll stop trying.

    That's too bad about Gabriel's face. But you worked it into the story nicely. You always tease us with things that are going to happen in the future... like with Nick's mystery girl and now Rebecca's mystery boy!

    I'm so excited about the wedding, I'm sure it's going to absolutely fabulous :)

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  7. Yay, I can't wait for the wedding! Megan just really needs to loosen up. She's giving herself wrinkles over things she really can't control.....I mean really, how will she know if Rebecca goes to the campus bar? I think Rebecca is going to give her hell once she moves out though!

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  8. Thanks for your comments, guys! Sorry I'm only just getting to them. :)

    Tessa, I was pretty pleased with that bad make-up job. If it was going to happen to anyone, it had to happen to Rebecca, LOL!

    And no, Megan's not particularly grouchy. She has 5 nice points (which is nothing compared to Trent's 10) but she's very conservative, stuffy and a bit of a know-it-all.

    Apple Valley, I don't know if Megan has quite realised she can't control everything yet but she's certainly trying!

    Heh, we're all invited to the wedding, LOL!

    Maisie, no, Megan would not be impressed! It's better to let her believe Rebecca is still a virgin. Rebecca's not really the "it won't happen to me" type though. She's actually very aware of Victoria's situation and she doesn't want to end up in the same trouble herself, even though it's worked out well for Victoria.

    I'm glad you're excited about Adrienne's baby and who's adopting it. I did think of Calvin and Aaron but like you say, I don't think they're ready for that.

    A second before Gabriel's face changed, I'd put some hair on him with the body hair controller. Perhaps that had something to do with it. But I removed it and his face didn't come back, so I don't know.

    Not holidays yet but really close, so everything is slowing down. I wish I was on holidays all the time too! LOL.

    Tanja, I should have the wedding up tomorrow, if the game co-operates!

    Rebecca and Claudia look alike in profile but not at all from the front! Rebecca is a Trent clone. I don't think she got anything at all from Megan.

    Riverdale, oh, gosh, Megan would not take a second pregnant teenage daughter well at all. Fingers crossed Rebecca isn't using that faulty birth control Victoria was using!

    Sari, no, I don't know if Megan will ever try to stop controlling her daughters completely. She's kind of a control freak and her children being anywhere but under her roof is scary to her.

    Oh, don't get too excited about Rebecca's mystery boy! It won't happen for a long time and I found out last night that there's another boy she has similar chemistry with, so it might be a toss up.

    Mizzgin03, LOL, no, she won't know if Rebecca goes to the campus bar but she's doing all she can to stop her. Which is really not very much. Megan can say all she likes but once Rebecca is at college, she'll be 18, plenty old enough for bars and there'll be no one around to prevent her from going. Or from doing anything else Megan doesn't want her to do.

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  9. Oh I totally agree. What I meant by that with Rebecca is that I always took her as being smart and careful so it wouldn't happen to her. Not that she was reckless. Like "I'm too smart to have x happen." cause she's takes smart steps bc etc.

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  10. Regarding Tanja's comment about Rebecca looking just like Claudia in profile, I definitely agree. But then I looked at the family portrait at the beginning and wow, she *is* Trent in drag. Crazy!

    Too funny about her botched makeover LOL. I agree with her about not letting someone mess with your face and hair. I've had people do my hair before but the only time I've had someone do my makeup was for my wedding. I'm glad she didn't mess up my face like she did Rebecca's though LOL.

    And I hope Rebecca can stay child free for her own sake. At least for a little while. I don't know what Megan would do if another one of her daughters has a baby so young.

    And like everyone else, can't wait for the wedding!

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  11. Maisie, ah, I got you now. Yes, Rebecca is quite adamant she won't end up a teen mother, so she's taking all possible precautions. She knows Victoria was on birth control when she got pregnant, so she's well aware of all the risks she's taking.

    Danielle, LOL, yeah, I've called Rebecca "Trent in drag" many, many times! They look very alike.

    Oh, I had to get my hair and make-up done when I was a bridesmaid and I wasn't thrilled about it. I ended up with HUGE hair and what looked to me like clown make-up (it was really just much heavier than what I was used to).

    Rebecca has Victoria's situation to remember and I'm sure rumours are whirling around the high school about what Adrienne's got herself into as well. So I'm hoping her precautions pay off for her and she can plan a family in her own time when she's much, much older!

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  12. LOL, Rebecca! These Kirby girls are just intent on torturing their poor mother with all their sex, lol! But I love how you wrote around his fugliness!

    So is that ACR birth control *really* fixed? I'm scared to let any of my Sims do it, lol!

    Oooh, oooh, oooh! *raises hand* lol! The body hair controller! Yes, I wrote about this... it happened to Max, with the body hair controller, and I never found out why. All my other dudes were able to get hair just fine, but Max's face would change when I tried it on him. I ended up quitting without saving and leaving him hairless (which is also just as funny!).

    I did actually do a bit of surgery on Max, nothing major, just moving his nose up or down or whatever, but when it changed his face, it wasn't back to how he was born, but back to the template default. Something buggy about that hair controller!

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  13. Laura, LOL, all the Kirby girls take after Trent - they're much more laid back than Megan. Megan's going to give herself a heart attack, with all this fretting she does over her daughters!

    As far as I've been able to tell, ACR birth control is fixed. None of my Sims using it have got pregnant. Adrienne wasn't using it - she was an idiot and thought it would be a good idea to try for baby.

    Oh, I remember you posting that about Max! Maybe it's only a problem on Sims that have had surgery. Although I know Lake has definitely had surgery (years before I moved him in), and he didn't have any problems with that. Maybe I just got unlucky. Next time I use it, I'm going to save first, so I can just quit out if it goes silly.

    I wonder if the tattoo boxes have the same problem or if it's just the body hair box. They're made exactly the same way.

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  14. Megan is a great character though with all her fretting. She very much reminds me of my own mother. (I accept your sympathy.) Perhaps that's why I actually like her, lol.

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  15. Lunar, I like Megan a lot too, even when she's driving her daughters nuts.

    How funny that she reminds you of your mother, lol! My own mother is prone to fits of fretting as well but not in quite the same way. I imagine when her kids are older, Lia might be a little like my mum was (and still is). A worry-wart but not really a nag.

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