I managed to finally get a rather annoying default replacement conflict out of my game, which was a result of re-downloading things and then putting back in bits of my old download folder. The download folder is quite slick now, I think, if rather more full than I originally intended.

Anyways! First up in this Pleasantview update is the Dreamer family.




I started out with a remodel of the Dreamer house. I didn't actually touch the structure and furnishings all that much, since the layout works for me. All I changed was putting in a winding staircase (I tend to play a house from one perspective mostly, and what always bugs me in the Dreamer household is that I can't see the toilet from my preferred viewpoint. The winding staircase fixes this nicely.), and giving a few walls a fresh lick of paint or a new roll of wallpaper.





As you can see, it's fairly close to how the house was originally.



The remodelling brought the Dreamer's funds down quite a lot though, and Darren couldn't pay off all his bills in one go. He picked up a job in the Artist career to help him make ends meet.



Darren and Dirk playing videogames is so typically dad/son. Dirk's totally into it, while Darren seems to think "What does this button do again?"



Darren meeting one of his neighbours. He seems to find her quite charming :p

One of the problems with playing the households in a one-week rotation is continuity. Technically they all overlap, but in practice they often don't. If you age up a kid in one household, the other households down the line of the rotation will never have known him/her as a kid, even though they should have, continuity-wise. Darren and Brandi are already in love because I played the Brokes first, but continuity-wise, they should be just friends at this stage.

Maybe I'm just overthinking this too much.



Anyway. I tend to play my sims more or less the same, I've noticed, hardly paying attention to their aspirations. You'd think all my sims are family/knowledge. I'm trying to shake that habit, and seeing as Dirk is a popularity sim, I let him throw a bunch of parties while his dad was out. Great opportunities for getting to know people and forming a good reputation.



He's on good terms with Angela as well as Lilith, and Dustin is his BFF, but to my astonishment, he also had pretty good relationships with Tank and Ripp Grunt. He must've been quite the busy bee during the get-to-know-your-neighbours party.



Party bonus: getting sims that didn't know eachother yet together for some socialising. Lilith and Ripp got along famously, while Angela snagged up Tank for most of the party. By this time everyone had been drinking punch heavily, and I thought it'd be hilarious to influence Angela and make her flirt with Tank, seeing as she'd been monopolising him all evening. Dustin wasn't very happy :p



Things went downhill a little after that, and Dirk and Lilith got into a fight as well. He thinks it's about time she'd stop being silly and went home again. Unfortunately, she's having none of it. Ahw Lilith, listen to your boyfriend. Your parents I miss you :(



On a more uplifting note, Darren asked Brandi out on a date at the end of the week. Nice little restaurant, champagne... Just the thing to set the mood.



Brandi's top clashes horribly with the interior. Darren soldiers on bravely in the face of such disregard for colour harmony, and gets ready to pop the question.

Darren: "Brandi... I know we haven't been together for very long, but we're having a great time together, and you fill up a part of my life that's been missing for a long time."



Darren: "So, I hereby ask you, would you... uh... Darling?"



There's not really such a thing as a gentle let down in these circumstances. But crying into your lobster isn't going to help either, Darren. You can just ask again at another time, you know?

Darren: "Another time? Do you know how much this lobster costs?"



Long story short, Brandi only declined because their previous date had been rather awful. They'd both climbed into a hottub and didn't want to come out for anything, letting the date-o-meter run empty without as much as a snuggle. After some schmoozing, Brandi's more than happy to accept.
It's a good thing that Darren's been making good money recently, because the house is going to need some more remodelling to fit everyone in after Brandi and her Brood move in!



They've made themselves quite at home already, anyway.


The Burbs



The Burbs moved into one of the pre-made houses, but I remodelled it so extensively it's hard to tell which one anymore. They come with a meager 20K$ for a starting family, so all they could afford was a bungalow. Cozy and tiny, but I'm not sure where they're going to fit in the baby that John's hoping for...



Jennifer seems cautiously optimistic about their new digs. I've finally settled on a look for her, and I think it suits her rather well :)



Lucy has been begging for a pet for ages, and now they finally have a house with a backyard, John has given in and has taken her shopping. I like his makeover as well, he usually turns out rather boring. He's more of a hip dad this time around.



Meet Mickey! He's a Border Collie (or EAxis' closest approximation of one), good natured, but a bit of an attention hog.



Lucy and Mickey are thick as thieves from the get-go.



Guess who this townie is? *



Mickey's got a lot to learn, though. Things such as 'The floor is not an appropriate place to relieve yourself'.



By now, John's gotten his wish and Jennifer is preggers. She still takes care of the financial side of the household, though, and has given up pregnancy leave in order to bring in more money. Her LTW is to earn 100.000$ after all, and that's not gonna earn itself.



It might not have been the best of ideas however, as she has a difficult pregnancy, and at one point even floated between life and death. Luckily, John managed to beat the Reaper in his game of 'Which Hand' (What happened to the traditional game of chess?), but it was a close call.



All that is forgotten the second the new baby arrives, though. It's a baby boy (which is the only thing I've ever gotten as a sibling for Lucy), which they've named Linus. (Yep, same as in the Megahood. By now Lucy's baby brother is almost canon in my head, he's arrived that often.)



Time flies, and soon it's Cakes'n'Candles time.



Cute, but I think we'll have to get rid of those pigtails, Lucy. And I'm not sure your mom would be glad about that amount of cleavage you're showing.



Linus' birthday is accompanied by the same transition clothing and hair horrors.



Lots better. I've always seen Lucy as very girly, and she does look pretty in pink. The short bob is much more age-appropriate as well.



First thing Linus did when he was put on the floor was crawling straight outside for a cuddle with Mickey. And then proceeded to eat the dogfood, obviously.



And we're leaving the Burbs with a pic of John's PT face. :)


The Goths

The Goth house got an extensive remodel on the inside. The outside structure stayed the same, but got updated to a sleeker second empire look.





The pink room is Cassandra's old room, now a guestroom. I couldn't resist putting in a lab for Mortimer again. :)



The week gets kicked off by Cassandra and Don's nuptials. I really don't approve of these two as a couple, but the EAxis scenario demands it, so I go through with it. Cassie looks so pretty, even if that dress isn't exactly fit for getting married in.



I don't know how Don manages to keep his face straight during the part where he promises her to stay true.



They get shipped off to start the week in their own house immediately afterwards, where we'll catch up with them later. For now, back to Mortimer, Bella and Alexander.



I'm a sucker for these two, and always reunite them, fixing Bella's age so she actually could be Cassie's mom, and bringing it closer to Morty's.



They're the quintessential Sims couple to me. (You can see I fixed Bella's face slightly. She's now a mix between her Pleasantview and Strangetown incarnations.)



Aaahhhwwww. :) Okay okay, enough Bella/Mortimer mushiness.



Mortimer wants to max out 5 skills, but I also remembered he's fond of insects, so he's trying to get a complete collection together as well. His days are pretty full trying to combine the two. He gets chased around by bees a lot.



Bella gave up her job in the Slacker career, and is now a full-time housewife. She enjoys spending time with Alexander and helps him out with his homework most evenings. (Mortimer is way too busy getting chased by bees for that.)



They grow up before you know it. Yet another birthday that missed out on cake :(  As you can probably tell, I gave Alexander some gentle plastic surgery in order to tone down his facial features a bit.



Family dinners with the Goths are always a dignified affair. Nomnomnom.


The Lotharios

Don and Cassie moved into one of the bin houses, which I remodelled and changed the look to a more goth-like abode. (It's the house from my Mind the Gap post)



This pretty much sums up the interaction between the two. They're just not that into eachother, really.



Don would much rather try to hit on their maid. He was very disappointed when this one showed up instead of his favourite, Kaylynn, but apparently there'd been complaints at the Maid's Main Office and they had to let her go.



The rest of his time, he spends jamming on the guitar he bought. With Cassie's money, of course. He couldn't really afford one with the meager salary he makes in the Slacker career. His dream is to become a Professional Party Guest, and get paid to party.



Cassandra on the other hand believes in giving back to the community. Mortimer's wedding gift (aka the money they got when moving out, I've got Pescado's No20kHandouts installed, which gives sims that move out money depending on the household's funds) was enough to ensure she'd never have to work again, but Cassie dreams of being the Chief of Staff in Pleasantview's hospital.
She inherited her father's brain (and has taken Knowledge as a secondary aspiration), and is flying up the ranks in the Medicine career.



Cassandra has always been slow at making friends, but she's gotten quite close with Vidcund Curious. They've got 2 bolts together (while she has no bolts whatsoever for Don), but Cassie would never dream of cheating on her husband, no matter how much he ignores her.



Don's attempts of wooing the maid are getting rather desperate. He's taken to tipping her ridiculous amounts of money. The maid pockets the cash (Cassie's cash!) gladly, but makes no attempts at giving in to Don's avances. She's a maid, and not some cheap hooker. Or expensive hooker. Those really are some huge tips, after all.



Frustrated, he calls over Kaylynn. And tells her to put on that maid outfit, apparently. Maybe he gets some kind of kick out of it.

I'd like to make clear that I really do not dislike Don Lothario. Quite the contrary. I just hate him together with Cassandra.



Don and Kaylynn lost track of time a bit, and Cassie catches them at it. Harsh words are exchanged, as well as slaps. Kaylynn is just happy to see Cassandra apparently. Never mind that she was smooching her husband a few moments ago.



Cassandra wastes no time telling Don what's what...



... and remains icily uninterested in his feeble attempts at explaining himself. She's seen how he eyed the other maid, after all.



I really like that breaking up is a happy memory for her, as opposed to Don's agony at getting what he deserves. :P



Luckily, Vidcund is able to come over and help her cope with the difficult time she's going through. He's such a good friend, and always there as a shoulder to cry on. And is obviously NOT doing all this just to get in her good graces, and maybe take things to the next level after she's gotten over Don.

That's not to say it wouldn't be a nice bonus, though.



Cassandra invites over her family for dinner. She doesn't like to be alone in the evenings now she's kicked out Don, and Vidcund has his work and can't be around all the time.
I love how it looks like Mortimer is giving his daughter love advice here :)



Alexander: "Or maybe next time you could call the Gypsy Matchmaker! I'm sure she can set you up with someone who ISN'T obviously after you for your money!"

Way to be tactful there, Alex.



Time passes, and heals all wounds.

Cassandra: "... so I was thinking which would be the most fitting death to request for Don if I ever found a genie in a lamp, but then I thought, all those negative feelings can't be good for my karma, right?"
Vidcund: "Oh, quite right. It's best not to dwell upon these things and let go, you know. Ahem."



And one day, when hugging goodbye...



... letting go suddenly wasn't amongst the options anymore.

 Vidcund & Cassandra: <3


Don Lothario



Cassandra kicked out Don without as much as a penny from her, thanks to the careful post-nuptial contract her father had drafted. His own money was just about enough to rent a tiny house next to a greasy burgerjoint. It's a bit of a cold shower after the luxury in which he lived together with Cassie.

Serves him right.



Don's not really a sim to look back too much, though. He invites over Nina Caliente to take his mind off things.
And put it on other things, so to speak.



Unfortunately, Cassandra decided on that exact moment to come over and steal Don's newspaper, and went into a fit of rage of seeing him with another woman again. It started out with shoving, went over to slapping, and before I knew it they were having a full-out brawl on the sidewalk. Nina looked on, fearful for Don.

Nina: "Not the face! Not the beautiful face!"



Don's OTH is fitness however, and he's worked on his bodyskill quite a bit more than Cassie has. He soundly kicked her butt, then shoo'd her off.



Nina is so relieved that Don emerged from the fight unharmed, she agrees to move in with him 'just as a roommate, to spread the rent a bit'. Her sister was cramping her style anyway (and she couldn't fit a double bed in the tiny house they lived in).



I really intended Nina and Don to be roommates, and turn off the jealousy on the lot so they can date other sims without catfights. But they can't keep their hands off eachother for two minutes, and they're just so cute together...



Oh Romance sims, I never know quite what to do with you...


Next up: Strangetown!

* This made-over townie is Sandy Bruty, aka Ms. Fishlips.