Violet Flower of Centuryville asked her friend Catherine Robinson the Infallibly Nice Witch to teach her the Ways of Light, and Catherine obliged. Violet is, and has been, ambivalent about this for some time, with simultaneous wants and fears to: be made a witch; Catherine to stop being a witch; herself to stop being a witch; cast a spell. The cauldron just barely fits in the bedroom of her one-bedroom apartment and she's not sure what she'll say about it to her beau when he comes over. But now that she's got a spellbook and a cauldron, she may as well start making Mystic Dust, which Catherine says is the reagent she'll need most of. Violet (who wants to be a Criminal Mastermind) thinks the Light spell list is a bit limiting but you have to start somewhere.

Mitch Wolosenko's date isn't going well.

Thoroughly enjoying reading what is happening in everyone's game!

Working on my new hood, and I had a lot of interruptions from RL - but, hopefully, I can get back to it now. Missing playing, but enjoying making the hood too.

What? Did he fall asleep (and somehow miss his bowl) while trying to propose?

She turned him down, he's crying.

Oh no! Poor guy. I've never done a sitting proposal; didn't recognise the anims.

That's what I thought happened originally. I have only ever seen it twice in all the years I have been playing.
She was trying to recover from an Eclectic and Enigmatic Energizer failure. It shouldn't have happened as she is platinum.

So much is happening in Rothborough now. My three warehouse occupant teens managed to scrape together money to buy one ow the small houses in the run-down part of Rothborough, and shortly after that they grew up and Tullarine wanted to move out and get a flat for herself instead, in a brutalist block full of townies. Steve Dunne and Martin Sutton continued to live as roommates and they seem to like it that way - they're both a bit lonely.

Steve had a dream of getting a gold toy making badge and falling in love. Martin is a classic knowledge sim and doesn't seem to think of love much, though he spontaneously smooched Tully when she came back for a visit. She has since found a townie she's really clicked with and Martin doesn't even have a crush on her since he grew up, so it's fine, I guess. Steve works for his friend Oliver Copse as a mechanic at Copse Custom Builds where he earns peanuts but has lots of fun, and Martin is one step away from his lifetime goal of topping the gamer career. The toy making badge Steve wanted just never seemed to show up despite all his toiling, so eventually I unlocked his want - the same day he slow danced with a friend from his teen years who got to age up with him, and discovered she was all he wanted all along, apparently. He fell in love and wanted to get engaged - so did Inaya Carlson, so they are now engaged and both want to get married. It will probably happen but not in a while, there's been so many Dunne family occasions lately and I need a break!

I had lots of fun playing their household - they are both rather playful, and like pranking eachother and sometimes the walkbys they greet. Martin is curiously obsessed with their one shrub and their three tiles worth of flowers despite not having any interest in nature. Steve keeps rolling wants to have a picture taken so I have decided he posts cringy selfies on Simstagram. Here's a sample, he'd probably love some followers

Sophie Hatter of Centuryville got her eighth mechanical point, went to her last day of high school, and threw her graduation party. Although she's very close with her sisters (she's parentified as all get out), she's a bit abrasive and has spent a lot of her adolescence working in her father's grocery store, cooking, cleaning, fixing the plumbing, riding herd on her sisters, and occasionally sneaking out to go to meet Howell Jenkins at Lover's Lane; so she only has two friends outside of her family, Howell and Ricky Cormier. However, one of her sisters brought Eugenia Argent-Spoon home from school, and her little brother Matthew brought home John Familias, and her mother Fanny made baked Alaska, and somehow or another a party with only two actual guests raised the roof. Sophie went to the hair salon to get a more collegiate hairstyle, stopped at the Beach to have one last swim (she mostly went to the Beach with the kids and spent more time building sandcastles with them than swimming), and then collected her scholarships, for perfect grades and skill in the mechanical and culinary arts, and left for Alma Mater Academy.

Her taxi had barely driven away when Fanny ran to do honor to the porcelain throne. Oh, dear. Her youngest Anna has an upcoming birthday and she'd already been planning what to convert the nursery into. Let's hope second daughter Lettie, when called upon, proves to be as reliable as Sophie's always been. (It's not my fault she and her husband had matching woohoo in bed wants that morning and that their family is too respectable for illegal birth control.)

Sophie moved into the Women's Dorm, where she found herself on the same floor as her archenemy Sophie Miguel. All through high school, the Sophies were constantly fighting, each being about as abrasive as the other and Lover's Lane being supplied with a beer keg. So far they've managed to avoid speaking to, slapping, shoving, or attacking each other, as mature reflection (and the Watcher's option to cancel actions) keeps reminding them that such behavior is childish and unladylike.

Old habits being hard to break, Sophie H. keeps cleaning up other people's messes. She wants to major in Physics and her LTW is Space Pirate.

Sophie M. dreams of being a ballet dancer, but knows that's not likely. She plans to work hard and get an education that will enable her to make a lot of money, either by marrying it or working for it. She's not particular as long as she gets it. In the meantime, there's a barre in the women's dorm and she's hogging it!

Sophie H. ran into Howell when she went out to get properly collegiate clothing. They got engaged with a Crackerjack ring when they were fifteen (and when they threw their Off to College parties they got the options to throw Wedding Parties!) and they're both still wearing them, but they played it cool. Howell took early admission and has already been at Alma Mater Academy for a semester. In high school, girls were always throwing themselves at his head and they'd had a doozy of a fight about it before making up, so Sophie's not sure how much reliance to put on that ring and is not going to lower herself to chase him if he's already gone and succumbed to some college girl's blandishments. Howell, on his part, spent his high school years afraid that Sophie would break up with him and apparently not realizing that those other girls were throwing themselves at him; he was ecstatic when she finally got to campus, but wants to be sure Sophie still wants him before he breaks his heart on her rocks.

Also, they both have a lot of studying to do. Howell wants to major in Physics and his LTW is Space Pirate. I hadn't noticed their identical LTWs before and it made me laugh. I mean, I knew I'd made them for each other, but the game seems to agree with me!

Ricky Cormier has come to college, too, and is on the top floor of the Men's Dorm. He has a turn-on for redheads and wants that first kiss, but has never quite dared to approach Sophie on the subject on account of her being a slightly scary person. But if he's ever going to steal a march on Howell (who has never noticed him particularly except to distract Sophie from playing rock-paper-scissors with him at Lover's Lane; some guys have all the luck and never appreciate it), now is the time.

I'm going to have to steal this idea. Portland constantly has illnesses going around and I don't use secondary aspirations so they can make their own soup. This would be a great business for one of my stay-at-home-parent family sims to run in the evenings.

Um...

Warning- picture heavy and lots of death! (Don't click @AndrewGloria )

Your butlers need hazard pay (and insurance)! No kittens that would have saved the family? XD

No, they had no pets and I set out in this hood to play the scripted plots out, and then play with as little interference as possible! I feel a bit guilty for directing the kid to burn the leaves...

I got so stressed looking at those fire pics! I guess I have to stay away from mods that make fires in the game more dangerous.

Today, Rothborough got another household added - siblings Yara and Putte Finnegan, who moved into one of the apartments in the wealthier side of Rothborough, where the houses are older and nicer looking. They were supposed to be townies, but I just liked them so much I wanted them playable. And Putte wants to save money, so he searched for a roommate to share living costs with and now an elderly gentleman named Raker Mandelbom occupies a room in their flat. Putte and his sister both wanted jobs in intelligence, and with a stroke of luck my sims never seem to have otherwise, they actually found jobs in intelligence advertised in the newspaper.

After that, I went to Dawn Dunne's household, where she entertained her young lover Finbar Tillycester (Who now wants to marry her, not knowing she now and then also smooches the infallibly good warlock Corin Moe and a few of the townie men - she's popularity and not romance but I sometimes wonder if she actually knows that). She got her and her granddaughter-in-law's patisserie/chocolatier business up one level too, and took care of her two oldest great grandchildren, isolde and Brangien. Brangien hasn't been potty trained yet, so she said goodbye after a while and crawled off home to go potty, which never fails to amuse me. But Isolde stayed and caught butterflies and chatted to her great-nan and was spoilt with cake and a butterfly terrarium. To finish off her round, Dawn sang karaoke for hours outside her small house since there was no room inside (there is now, thanks to Finbar's generous dating gift, she could get an upper floor where the karaoke machine could fit), and her joy in singing was contagious despite how less than amazing it sounded - it felt like I could relate, as someone who always sings but these days rather than well, so I made her my new avatar.

Sorry! I even hid the thumbnails so that sensitive people wouldn't inadvertently see them, but I'll bet you're like me (I have to touch the plate when the waiter says 'it's hot', just to check, and I always get my fingers burned! ) Saying don't click is too much of a temptation!

Spot on, simsample! And I have this idea of myself as an unsentimental, veteran simmer (who also once very much enjoyed dropping grumpy theme park visitors in the ocean to get rid of them when I played Rollercoaster Tycoon), so I'm always a bit taken by surprise when I see how sensitive I actually am.

I read some of the text, but I didn't look at any of the pictures. I know my limitations.

You'll all be glad to know that Darren is doing a little better today; he is safely housed in another of the empty Pleasantview lots. He got some nice furniture, and popped his beloved family's graves in the back garden next to his brand new easel. The aeroplane mobile from Dirk's room survived the fire as it was upstairs, and has been placed in Darren's bedroom (it was brought with him from the original Dreamer house). Darren is currently chatting online to some of the lovely Pleasantview ladies; he has two bolts for (adult) Ivy Copur!

He's talking to Karen at the moment though; maybe I should nip that in the bud!

The fire-stricken house has been demolished and replaced by a fresh copy.

Riverside Rotation 9
It's been so long since I played Riverside, I played this rotation in 2 days and forgot how much I loved the drama. I'm already itching to start rotation 10
(As always, give me a few mins to upload pics... my laptop's keyboard is breaking so I type all this out on my phone, upload it, and then switch to my laptop) - hopefully photos work this time since a few months ago the links kept breaking.

Jefferson
Gina and her daughter Alicia have just moved out, leaving Barbara and Sam feeling a little empty nested. They adopted a new cat, an elderly boy named Jasper. Jim went on a date with townie Paige Jones. They shared a first kiss, and hung out until 5am when I finally ended the date because Jim was so infatuated he was ignoring his needs and desperately needed sleep. His more serious twin sister Carla, spent the afternoon playing piano - she's aiming for a promotion which would turn her into an overachiever, and would definitely help towards a scholarship or two.

Thompson-Anderson
Bernie loves being a stay at home Dad, he's hoping Virginia would want one more baby. What a beautiful saturday he spent with his boys. He played catch with Anthony, and taught Cameron to walk. Virginia came home from work, she only went in this morning to keep a roof over their heads (barely!), she was tired and bored and clearly the bosses noticed because she's been demoted back to convenience store clerk. Now Bernie wants another one?! But at least this one will be his. She wonders if Bernie notices Cameron looks like neither of them. Uncle Marty came round later in the afternoon to play with his nephews, I think he's a little freaked out that Jennifer is pregnant and he's about to be a Dad.

Roberts
Hiriam was left at home with the nanny for most of the day. She gave him 5 bottles while he was passing out on the floor before the fridge mysteriously turned around and then she cleaned those 5 bottles as Hiriam's energy and hunger continued to drain. Luckily James came home just before Hiriam's needs got dire, he dismissed the nanny and put Hiriam in his highchair, gave him some food and then put him in his cot.

Molyneux
A house with 3 adults and 2 toddlers should not be this difficult! Victor's complete hands off approach left Gina and Maddie to raise the twins around each other's busy work life. Victor is desperate to reach his lifetime want, maxing out all skills, before his death and has spent much of the day studying cleaning (instead of cleaning up after the twins!) and searching for planets through the telescope. Maddie wishes he would focus more on what is around him here.

Marshall
Now that Lila's out of school, she was hoping her days were just for her. Yet here she is again looking after a toddler that isn't even hers! She tried to invite her new friend Stuart the dormie over, but spent most of the time cleaning up after Kaylynn as she played in toilets since she's too little to reach into the toy boxes just yet. That night was the twins birthday, Lawrence grew into a pleasure sim - he loved growing up around all the parties and chaos Lila threw their way, Trinity, the opposite grew up to be a knowledge sim - all the chaos at home really made her appreciate her time at school and the praise from her teachers filled a hole in her psyche that her parents busy work schedules couldn't.

Brooklyn
Was not expecting to start the day off with Lisa sneaking out of bed with Charles to go woohoo Gregory. Charles went to work, Lisa seems to be ill with something (was kinda hoping she was pregnant so I could play out some crazy storyline but she isn't) and her needs have been so awful I've locked her in her bedroom with an en-suite bathroom and a mini fridge. Gregory went on a date with Lora Grundstrom - a hobby enthusiast (not sure which one). After a dream date, he sent Lora home and ofcourse who should walk past but sweet innocent Trinity Marshall. Gregory started to flirt with her but luckily the girl was not in the least bit interested.

Brooke
Michael's first day at private school, he wants to make a friend - heres hoping he does, since now Mellisa and Danielle are at college, Abraham has to befriend 6 sims just to get promoted. To rectify this, the Brooke's had a formal evening party and invited all the adults in the neighbourhood. Which was a horrible idea because...


Brooklyn-Thompson
Isabel's bump appeared before the quads became toddlers. This house is a level of chaos even I can't deal with. They grew up into toddlers, and I've been trying to deal with them on a 1 toddler:1 adult ratio, only the majority of the time atleast 1 adult is either at work, school, or busy tending to their own needs. So it has been very complicated...


Anderson
The house layout is stressful af when you have a heavily pregnant sim. Marty decided it was about time, now he had a wife and a baby on the way, to get a job. He found an ad in the newspaper for a bartending gig and decided to take it. He got a promotion that day, and then spent the evening talking on the phone to his eldest nephew Anthony. Claire just spent the day walking up and down all those damn stairs. For her sanity (and mine!) the family decided to sell their home and move onto South Meadow, next door to the Molyneux's.

Russell
So while my game does allow for townies to get pregnant, it doesn't allow for their pregnancies to progress... so I had Trenton invite over Cara and Carla (totally not confusing, especially considering they're wearing matching twikki outfits, same hairstyle, hair colour and skintone). He has a good relationship with Cara and considers her a best friend, so he asked her to move in. Carla I moved in via sim blender and then let her find her own house. We'll catch up with her later. Claire Santiago, who moved out after having Trenton's lovechild, didn't take too kindly to Cara's presence when she came over that day and decided to attack the poor pregnant woman. Cara won the fight and Claire was asked to leave.

Molyneux
Gina still wants to go to college, even though she put her dreams on hold for Scott and Alicia. Maybe Scott can keep himself and Alicia afloat and Gina could even work throughout college and send money home? Maybe it won't be too difficult, Alicia isn't far off school aged? Gina needs to make her choice next rotation. For now, Scott has his own question for Gina -- and she said yes!

Ross
So during the now infamous Brooke family party, Lisa Russilo and Charles Brooklyn are no more. This freed Lisa up to move in with her BFF Dina. Nothing else to say here, Dina spent most of the day at work, and Lisa set up her bedroom and made dinner.

Santiago
Claire's finding it hard, she's 1 year away from her senior years, unemployed, with a toddler and a house that doesn't even have wallpaper. It's just her and Aaron now. She's furious Trenton has already moved on with a new girlfriend already living with him! She almost woohooed Don Baxter today minutes after meeting him, just to feel less lonely, but then Aaron awoke from his nap and started screaming so she was busy looking after him. Life is very dull for Claire.

Thompson
Carla Nanale called Martha to tell her she was pregnant... Martha didn't seem too interested in the conversation and hung up not long after. I guess a new sibling isn't that interesting. Funnily by the time this baby is born, Martha will be an elder! Martha gave birth mid-afternoon to her and Thomas's second child together; Charlotte Thompson. Russell grew up into a child at 6pm, they had a cake and Russell's old crib got moved into his new sisters bedroom to make room for his big boy bed.

Baxter
Don asked Claire on a date while heavily-pregnant Sarah was at work. It didn't take long before the two woohooed in the hot tub, and then because Don had enough inspiration points- he asked Claire to do the gardening, because it needed doing. Somehow that constituted a 'great date', and Don went to work satisfied. Sarah came home, Lucy and David (who were neglected for most of the day) grew up well. Then Claire, who finally finished gardening, nearly froze to death.

Reamon
Carla Reamon is new to Simnation, having moved from Twikkii Island to find a better life for herself as a single mother. She doesn't quite remember the fling on the beach or who this baby's father is. She only knows that in her small rural town everyone would gossip and judge. She found a lovely house in Riverside, and a job as a fish chummer. Hopefully her first pay slip is enough to buy nursery furniture!

University dorms
Hanna joined the dorm, and chosen Philosophy as a major since her LTW is to become a media magnate. The first semester went well; Hanna got on the deans list, as did Mellisa - who decided she wanted to pull out all the stops her Junior year and focus on getting on the deans list. Her boyfriend Josh had different ideas and spent the first half of his senior year obsessed with his new pet womrat. He still passed with a C+, but that was only from attending classes. The same can be said for Danielle who focused on her unofficial-boyfriend Gregory and pined for him to join her in University. Don't think the girl realises he's a romance sim who is already over half-way to his LTW of woohooing 20 sims... college probably isn't her best interest lol. All motivation was lost by the second semester; Josh and Mellisa rolled wants to kiss, flirt, be flirted with, go on dates... but only vaguely, not specifically with each other. I sent them on a date, hoping one thing would lead to another and they'd actually roll wants more consistent with a 3-bolt couple... but no, Mellisa wanted to tickle or play pillow fights and then he ended the date early to go to class. Danielle has been in a bad mood all semester, her skills have been lacking and she would need 5 skill points just to unlock the whole class performance meter, ontop of that the cafeteria worker glitched out (I like to think she went on strike) so they've all had to take turns working in the cafeteria or even just making their own food - which actually helped Danielle get an extra skill point in cooking ready for next year. Hanna is a natural at college and did pretty well, she missed the deans list this semester but atleast had all her skill points. Josh graduated with a 2.9, the girls current GPAs are: Danielle - 3.0, Hanna - 3.6, Mellisa - 3.3.