Saturday 17 May 2014

Deep talk in the shallow end

Round 35: August 2041 (Winter)

Evan Moretti is 52, Ione is 45, Aurora and Bianca are 15 and Francesca is 7.
(Matthew is 16 and Gabriel is 14)
Narrated by Aurora Moretti

Francesca has become quite the budding scientist. She got an ant farm for her birthday in February and she is still obsessed with it.


And no one is allowed to watch anything other than science shows on TV when she’s around. 

She’s constantly conducting “experiments”, the most recent of which found her coming through the back door, in her swimsuit, almost frozen solid!

Once she warmed up, she told Mum she was out there “observing the wildlife”. The swimsuit was so she wouldn't get her clothes dirty. 

Mum asked if the swimsuit was maybe because Francesca was distracted from her scientific research by the Water Wiggler in the backyard! But of course, Francesca insisted she was wrong.

Mum made the Water Wiggler for all of us years ago and Francesca can’t wait for it to get warmer so she can use it again. 

Mum has been working really hard on her toys, still hoping to reach her dream of owning her own store.

She has been selling some of her toys online, hoping to save up the money a bit faster.

She already knows exactly the shop she wants to buy. Dad says they can probably buy it within the next year or so, with a small loan. 

Mum’s a bit reluctant about the loan, because Uncle Finn is always in her ear about taking on debt but Dad says if they’re smart, they’ll be able to pay it back in no time. But he’s leaving it totally up to Mum. 

I hope she just goes for it. She gets so excited even talking about it and I know it’s what she really and truly wants to do.

If I ever figure out what I really want to do, I’m going to jump on it so fast. Right now though, I don't have a concrete plan, except I know I want to go to uni.

Matthew says he’s going to be the mayor one day, no question. He’s very confident about this.

If I still don’t know what I want to do by the time that comes to pass, he’s told me I can be his deputy mayor. 

Sweet but I really don’t think that’s the job for me. It sounds so boring, to be quite honest, not that I said that to him. 

Dad was telling me about how he and Mum used to fix up cars and sell them, back when they had no money when they first got married. Now that...that’s something I might like to try!

Maybe not fixing up wrecks and selling them but maybe become a mechanic one day. It seems like something I could enjoy. 

I told Matthew about it and he wasn't particularly impressed, to say the least. He thinks it’s pointless to go to uni and then be “just” a mechanic at the end of it. 

I don't know what's wrong with being "just" a mechanic" or going to college simply for the experience but Matthew didn't seem to agree.

I wasn't very impressed with him after that, so I told him to just go home and I’d talk to him later. I want to go to college for the experience 

He did call later to apologise, which is something. I'm still not sure if he apologised because he was sorry or because he wanted me to stop being mad at him. 

I guess I'll give him the benefit of the doubt for now and assume he was being genuine. He has a tendency to be insensitive sometimes and speak without thinking. 

Bianca was pretty angry when I told her about it. She’s the younger twin but we both act like protective big sisters for each other when we deem it necessary.

She wanted to get Gabriel to talk to Matthew for me and set him straight. Even if I thought that was necessary, I don’t know that Gabriel would be up for the job.

Gabriel is a really good guy but he really doesn't like any sort of conflict or confrontation.

He is also very reserved - almost as much as Bianca - which makes them a pretty perfect match in my eyes.

But confronting Matthew? Probably a bad idea. They don’t even get along particularly well, so I don't think Matthew would listen to anything Gabriel had to say anyway.

I feel supported by everyone else, so if he’s going to continue to be a jerk about it (while I hope he won’t), my family has my back.

Especially Mum. Mum is awesome. She keeps telling me there is no rush for me to decide what I want to do, even if it seems like everyone else already knows. 

She started out as a cop, was let go, started working at the library with her friend Lia and now she’s looking into this toy shop thing very seriously. 

So basically, I have time to decide and even after I have, I have time to change my mind too.

Notes:
  • Title is from Deep Talk in the Shallow End by Ben Lee.
  • I think Ione might be able to open her shop next round, with probably a $10,000-15,000 loan. That's manageable enough for them to take on at this point, I think. Exciting!
  • Francesca autonomously went out to use the Water Wiggler. More than once. When she came in all frozen like that, I thought I had to write it in somehow, lol!
  • Aurora really, really wants to go to college, which I feel is relatively significant for a Family/Pleasure sim, so I'll definitely send her, no matter what career she goes into. Auto Mechanic came up 5/5 when I ran the careers criteria on Aurora. She had some other perfect matches too but I can't actually see her taking any of them up. Mechanic though, I can see! I wish I had space in this house for a second driveway, so I could get her a fixer-upper.
  • Matthew is kind of a jerk. As soon as Aurora started talking about work and school, he got all pissy like that. They actually have really good chemistry but I'm not sure how long they'll last, given all this!
  • Also, I have a busy weekend ahead, so you'll have to excuse me if I don't respond to comments quickly or if the household profile for this family isn't up yet. Both will get done but you just might have to be patient. :)

17 comments:

  1. Blogger ate my comment, I think, sorry if you get double comments.

    I can't believe Matthew would act that way, but then again, if he's planning to go into politics, he already has the attitude of condemnation down pat. And I think Aurora as a mechanic would be great, and she totally needs a supportive, down to earth guy who isn't caught up in appearances, and scared of a women who can use a tool. However, Bianca and Gabriel are way too sweet! I especially love the photo of them in the booth snuggling up.

    I adore Ione's new hair (my sister is planning to name her baby Ione after her husbands grandma, and I got all excited! She even has a high chance for red hair!) /end of sidetrack. And I am thrilled that she is finally going to get that toy store, I cannot wait to see that in action! Have you showed us the building before? I feel like she did a "tour" once, but I don't know if I'm just remembering things wrong. And how cute is Francesca turning all blue, playing in the water in the winter time. I have never had a sim do that, and I never bother to put them away. She is adorable, the whole family is.

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    1. Nope, I just got it once!

      All the Lane kids are kind of assholish - Tim is the nicest because he has a whole TWO nice points, lol! So Matthew's behaviour didn't surprise me too much. I hadn't thought of it but now that you've mentioned it, I can imagine the kind of politician Matthew might be one day! ;) I think Aurora will get fed up with Matthew eventually. I can't imagine her sticking around, especially seeing the kind of relationship Bianca has with Gabriel.

      Oooh, I love the name Ione! Your sister has great taste. As for my Ione, if I have shown the toy store before, it would have been a different once in Sullivan 1.0 (this is the first time I've played this family post-rebuild). That one was loaded with CC and I am much pickier with CC lots these days. I have a very nice Maxis-only toy store now, which I will be filling with my own CC when the time comes.

      Oh gosh, I couldn't keep Francesca away from that Water Wiggler! Actually, Evan tried to go out and use it at one stage too. I wonder where she gets it, lol!

      Thanks for reading and commenting!

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  2. I love Francesca!! It will be interesting to see wheat she'll be like as a teenager.

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    1. I can't imagine Francesca as a teen. It seems so far away but time does tend to fly in game, so we might get to see that sooner than I'm expecting!

      Thanks for reading and commenting!

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  3. I love the ant farm!! Even though it’s a simple animation, I have fun watching It, and of course, watching my little simmies watch it!
    Laughed out loud at Francesca’s rationale for wearing a swimsuit to “observe the wildlife” and maintain the cleanliness of her clothing. What a budding scientist!
    You did a great job tying in Francesca’s obsession with the water wiggler…It is so neat how you tied it in with Ione’s dreams and labors with the toys, and selling them “online” is a great way to explain that magical selling them off the bench that happens.
    It sounds a little like it is difficult for Matthew to accept Aurora the way she is, awesome girl she is. Yay for her telling him to go home!
    Our local community college, which is a top 25 in the nation, has an auto mechanics program and credentialing.
    Maisie, loved your comment about politician’s having being condemning down pat. As an educator, I would love to see some politicians have to live with some of their criticisms that they know very little about!

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    1. The ant farm is pretty hilarious, I agree! Francesca is a funny little thing. I'm having fun with her. I can't remember what her hobby was before but science is new for her (I've been reassigning hobbies to be more in line with interests).

      Matthew is a bit of a snob. His father is high up in the military, his mother is a lawyer, his brother is a medical student. So going to uni for the experience and then taking a manual labour job like a mechanic doesn't make much sense to him. But he is unquestionably being a jerk about it. Aurora is pretty secure in herself, so that's not the sort of thing she wants to deal with.

      Goodness, Shannon, it's like you're watching the current political climate here in Australia! Or perhaps politicians are depressingly the same the world over!

      Thanks for reading and commenting!

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  4. Water wiggler, what a hilarious invention! Reminds me of TS3 sims playing with the water sprinklers in their gardens. I guess that's the same thing. lol I don't place them anymore though because they'd always go out and play with them to the point it got really annoying.

    Aurora seems like a strong minded little chick. Funny that she told Matthew to leave after their heated discussion. Matthew seems like a bit of a snob and maybe a hot-headed? It's good that Aurora has her own ideas of what she wants to do though and isn't influenced by her boyfriend.

    Look forward to seeing Ione open up her own shop too. I always enjoyed the Open for Business EP in TS2. :)

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    1. LOL, yeah, that's the in game name! I've always thought it was the best toy from that crafting bench. If the family has a dog, the dog will go play in it and improve its hygiene, so it's useful too. :)

      Matthew is definitely a snob (will have to add that trait for him) and he is hot-headed as well. :\ He has good chemistry with Aurora but they're really not a great match, as you can see here.

      I might be too excited about this shop. Might end up opening it early and writing it into another family's update!

      Thanks for reading and commenting!

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  5. My goodness, Francesca is a funny little girl. That sounds like the things I used to do to amuse myself, though I never had an ant farm. Apparently that water wiggler should be locked up to keep her from hurting herself, LOL.
    Aurora being the next generation of mechanic after Dominic Lachance is an exciting prospect. And if Matthew can't get on board, then she should tell him to get out of the way!
    "perhaps politicians are depressingly the same the world over"
    And here I was secure in my belief that we Americans had the most bull-headed, narrow-minded politicians the world over.

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    1. Ione and Evan need to look into some winter storage for the outdoor toys, I think! Or just a strong lock for the door, as I think Francesca would probably be running out there at all hours anyway, lol!

      I'm quite looking forward to Aurora going into auto mechanics. I'll have to get some kind of service station/garage into the game, so I can show her and Dominic at work together. He's only young, so I can't imagine he won't still be doing it once Aurora is ready. :) Matthew will have to deal or get walking. ;)

      Sorry to shatter that illusion for you! Politicians seem to be getting worse here too. :(

      Thanks for reading and commenting!

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  6. I feel like I would totally trust a mayor married to a mechanic over just about any other politician.

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  7. Also, I'm seriously considering going into healthcare once I pay off the student loans on my fun-but-useless liberal arts degree. (And once I don't have very small children.) So tell Aurora to avoid loans!

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    1. A politician married to a mechanic would make think they had an understanding of the common man (or woman, as the case may be). I hadn't thought of that!

      Sullivan students are pretty lucky in the loans arena! The fees are pretty low and I generally have the parents pay up front. Hard enough to have sims buy a nice house without starting them out with so much debt. I'm much kinder than most politicians, you see? LOL.

      Thanks for reading and commenting!

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  8. I'm so looking forward to Ione opening her toy store! They have worked so had to get there, I'm sure they are looking forward as much as I am :)

    I think Matthew will make great politician, he already has a nice attitude for it :)
    It's good she told him to leave after those comments, I hope he's genuine about his appology. If he's not Aurora definatly deserves some one who's better for her.
    Bianca and Gabriel are sweet togehter!

    I love Francesca! And I love how you incorperated her love for science in this update, it's not always easy when it comes to children in this game.
    I like her love for the waterwiggler even in the winter.
    I think she's going to be very interesting as a teen as well :)

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    1. Ione is extremely excited that her dream is so close to coming to fruition! She's been waiting for it for quite a while now.

      Who knows with Matthew? I'm going to keep an eye on him when I play his family (argh, wish I had a school again!) and see what kinds of wants, if any, he rolls for Aurora. I might use that to decide if they're going to last any longer. I think Aurora is a girl who knows she deserves to be treated well. No such dilemmas with Gabriel and Bianca. I'll let them stay together as long as they both want to. :)

      Francesca is fun and I think I'll enjoy playing with her as she grows up, as long as she continues to do ridiculous things like that. What a character, lol!

      Thanks for reading and commenting!

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  9. I don't blame Aurora! I'd want to go for the experience, too... provided it'll be easy to pay off. Matthew needs to realize that not everyone is going to fit his idealized reality. ;) I'll be interested to see where these two end up!

    Francesca being a little scientist is too cute. I have a soft spot for those types. I married one, after all!

    I've been getting caught up slowly. Sorry for not commenting on every entry! Sneaking this in at work. Gotta love working IT.

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    1. Uni will be $8000 maximum for Aurora, assuming she studies something in the humanities. I'd have to check my fees table to be sure though! It's been a while. Everyone's been getting a free ride since my rebuild, as I don't have everything all set up yet.

      Matthew is a pretty rigid sort of person. Kind of like I imagine his dad to be, in that way. He'll have to learn to adjust but whether he does that before Aurora gets fed up with him is another story.

      Francesca is a cutie. I'm so looking forward to seeing what she develops an interest in as she gets older, if she wants a scientific career or if she's going to be one of those people who just immerses themselves in it in their spare time. I think I'd be happy with either path for her!

      Don't apologise for not commenting on everything - I'd never expect it!

      Thanks for reading and commenting!

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