January 28, 2007

Chapter 15: The Die Rolls

Orrin goes to college.
Omaha grows up.






Ah, the little ones grow up so fast, don't they? Here it is, already time for Omaha to jump into teenhood and Orrin to head off for college.

Cute picture, huh?








Now, in most families, the minute you were done taking all the 'nice' pictures and put away the camera, the kids would start beating up on each other (or was that only in my family?) Not so these two. Orrin's always had a great relationship with his niece.

"Hsst! Careful how you say that. I don’t' want any of my future subjects to overhear and think I might be 'soft'."







College can't come too soon for Orrin. I mean, look at him. He's growing like a weed.

::Damn freaky green kid. Now he's doing strange things with the bus roof.::

Let's just fast forward to this evening and Omaha's birthday party (mostly because I have no other exciting shots to fill in between now and then).








All Omaha's elementary school friends are here. That's Thor Beaker in the green. Behind him is Olivia Smith, Ophelia and Johnny's daughter. Poor Jenny Smith is there in her usual pink (I really need to grow her up). Tank Grunt is there only because he was wandering by and I had Texas grab him. I don't think he knows a soul in the household but hey, it's free cake.







Quite a house full for the party, no? Three elementary school friends, their parents, Eugene and Genesis from next door, Salina, Orrin's gal Brandi, and Xavier the maid. Oh, and Keth's trotting her fat a$$ up the porch stairs as we speak.

Happily, we got through the entire party without Circe trying to beat the snot out of anyone. She's the top scrapper of Strangetown. Loki poked a few people, but was well behaved otherwise. I have to wonder if the Holldums can ever have a bad party though. I mean, look at the chaos of Cleveland's wedding. 2 broken engagements, most of Gen 2 in tears, and the wedding was still a roof raiser. *boggle*







*whips out her trusty 8-sided gaming die and tosses it across the computer desk as Omaha does her little spin*

Oh how cute! That's Texas' favorite shirt! Well, okay, it's the only shirt she ever wore as an adult, but she loved that shirt. I'm definitely seeing a lot of Texas and Salina in her. I wond...

*pauses* *blinks*

Oh no. I know that pose.

*scrabbles to check die* *sighs*


"How come ya'll only invited one boy to mah party?"

Allow me to introduce you to Omaha Casey Holldum, romance sim. She likes guys with brown or blonde hair but hates it when they slather on the after shave or cologne. Thankfully her lifetime want is to woohoo 10 sims, which could actually be do-able in college. Couldn't have rolled the professional party guest one, could you? That's a breeze.







Surprisingly, Omaha's party was actually lagging about as only "not bad" as the night wore on. Omaha was even so bored she headed up for bed. I had to haul her back out to flirt with Tank socialize with her guests.

So I had Cleveland bring out Treynor so he could transition into a toddler.







Look, it's one of like two pictures I have of Treynor as an infant with his eyes open.

Despite Cleveland's excitement, after they blew out the candles nothing happened. It's the first toddlerization failure I've had in a while. We'll try again later tonight after the party's broken up.

And, while snapping these pictures, I noticed a couple people were conspicuously absent. *taps foot*







Luckily, they weren't hard to find.

Ignore Genesis. The silly goose jumped in the way of the camera while cheering Treynor. By the time I'd repositioned the camera for a shot sans-Lam, Kasson and Keth had wandered off in different directions, trying to look innocent.







I've seen Cleveland make that same face and Omaha sure looks a lot like him when she does it. Of course, Cleveland usually makes it when I direct him to go clean something. In Omaha's case, I told her to go flirt with Tank.







And those rebellious teen episodes start early too. I was surprised that in the short course of her party, Omaha had become good enough friends with Tank that she could sneak out with him that same night.






Yeah, you'd better hoof it and get in that limo before your dad spots you young lady. That's his carpool waiting just ahead of your ride.

That's probably the whole reason she didn't get busted for sneaking out. Cleveland was auto-queued to go to work and Shelby was asleep.







Before I tried retoddlerizing Treynor, I had Orrin ring up La Fiesta Tech to see what scholarships he was eligible for. He was still traumatized by his abduction when he went to school, so his grade dropped to a B+, costing him that good grades scholarship. Still, he managed to score a tidy $4750. Not a huge sum, but it will make life in the dorms a little easier.







So lets try this again. Shelby is asleep and Cleveland is at work, so the task of committing toddlerage falls to Uncle Kasson. Waylon and Texas look just so thrilled, don't they? *chuckle*







Hey look, it's the other picture of Treynor where he has his eyes open.

"Hey Babe..."

Yes Kasson.

"I could like totally get used to this."

Used to what?

"Little guys like this and birthday cakes an' stuff."

Gah! Don't you start with me too.







Ta Da! This time it worked. Once all the confetti settles we can take a look at our Gen 3 Spare to the Heir (who is definitely not a clone of his sister)







Here's our little red haired guy (no surprise at that, what with two red headed parents) Treynor is a Capricorn like his Uncle Orrin. With both neatness and outgoing of 9, he's definitely a Holldum. Like his sister, he has 9 active points and 3 serious/playful points. Unlike Omaha he has no nice points. Zero. Zilch. Nada. He's going to be interesting to play.

Kasson, when was the last time you shaved?


"Heh. Well, like yiou see K..."

Don't even think of finishing that sentence. Wait... Hmmm... I hear something outside.







You go Sgt. Larry. You're 2 and 0 for catching recent Holldum sneak outs. I guess getting your tail kicked by that burglar a couple chapters ago helped you to refocus on your job.







Poor Omaha. Her first night as a teen, her first sneak out, and she's busted by the gormless one himself. Cheer up. You've got plenty of other chances to sneak out before college starts.







Didn't even make it in the door before she broke down in tears. I hope she doesn't run the same batting average for sneaking out that her father did. He was 0 for 4.







So to cheer her up I sent her over to the mirror to doll herself up a bit. I just now realized that she has purple pajamas (nightgown) just like her grandma.

"A'course I do. Gramma's mah idol."








Doesn't look like you're getting any sleep tonight Omaha, seeing how it's nearly time for the bus to come pick you up for school. Orrin, why don't you call and matriculate so we can send you off to college.






"Well Hi Bus Lady. You ain't our usual driver. I'm Omaha."

"Hi Omaha, I'm Stacy Phelps. I'm the backup driver. Your normal driver also drives the college shuttle and she got a call for a pickup this morning."

"Oh, she must be drivin' Unca Orry then."







"Oh god, not you kid! Geez. Tell you what. I'll make you a deal. You shut up the whole trip, and I'll get you to La Fiesta Tech as fast as I can."

"Even breaking the speed limit?"

"Yep."

"Excellent. I can easily be silent that long."

"No mumbling to yourself either. Now shut up, buckle up, and hang on tight."







How about a quick peek at the littlest Holldum, now that I've been able to give him a decent makeover. Definitely the Seavey nose there. The fauxhawk is kinda cute on him, even if it is cutting through Omaha's hat. He may keep it for a while. =)

And I'm starting to see a lot of Texas in Omaha, aren't you? I'll have to get a shot of them together.







I figured I'd been check in on Keth, since I hadn't played her lot in a while and, considering how bad the flu's been in Strangetown lately, I didn't want to suddenly discover Bibby had lost her owner.

This is Keth's place downtown. She and Bibby are dottering around on the ground floor still; I haven't done a thing with the upstairs yet.







Hey Keth, how goes? I wanted to make sure you hadn't caught the flu that's been going around. I think Salina might be the carrier.

"You're a bit late. I'm home from work sick. And can't you give a sim a little warning before you pop in?"

Sorry about that. I didn't mean to catch you in the bathroom. Hey, did you know your shower's broken? It's spitting mist all over the place.

"Yeah, I was... er... just on my way to call the repairman. The... ah... hot water pipe is leaking."

Well that bites.

*singing* "... he was a long haired sim from Simland. A long haired sim from Simnited Kingdom..."







Um Keth, that doesn't sound like a leaky water pipe. Or a broken showerhead. That sounds like a bad Simlish version of "Long Haired Guys from England" by Too Much Joy.

"I must've left my shower radio on when I got out. It's tuned to CD101. "Long Haired Guys" was number 199 on their 'Top 2006 requests of 2006' ya know."

"Hey babe, do you have any, like, real soap? All you've got is like this flowery liquid stuff in the bottle and... ooo... this stuff is like totally slickery... heh... come back in here a minute hon."

Left your radio on, huh?

"Ahhh..."







You two are so busted.

Kasson Byron Holldum, it's the middle of the day. Shouldn't you be at work? Not here doing... *gestures vaguely*


"Oh hi Babe. Hey, it's like my lunch hour so I thought I'd like get out of the office for a while."

And out of your suit while you're at it. *facepalm* You're supposed to be a respected member of the Strangetown city government and political arena. Do you know what sort of scandal could happen if word of...

Wait a minute. Scratch all that. That "respected member of city government" part freaks me out more than interrupting you two. I'm going to go like lay down or something. You two... er... carry on. *shudder*







"Meowwr?"

You bowl is full and you have water. What are you whining about now?

"Meowwr?"

Oh, whoops. That's the real Bibby bitching at me. Somebody must be able to see the bottom of her bowl. I guess that means it's time to head out for the next chapter.







Oh, and I had to throw this in here. Remember a couple chapters ago when Omaha asked Peyton the paperboy to be her sweetie once she was a teen (back in chapter 12)? As she headed out for school on her first day as a teen, I noticed this was in her want panel: Ask Peyton on a date. As you can see, she has one bolt for him but no relationship points at all. Guess who she's calling when she gets back from school?

But that'll be a couple chapters from now. The next one is all about college. I've still got a mess all over the Hoh House to clean up there.

Shall we take a peek at how Orrin is doing at college?




(More...)





January 27, 2007

Chapter 14: Orrin's Chapter

Finally it's here: Orrin's Chapter
Maybe he'll quit whining about it now.






"Well it's about time you got back to me."

Still having that acne problem, eh Orry. I see you and Texas have been working off all that lobster your father keeps fixing.

"Not only do you make me wait forever for my chapter, but you continue to mock me with that diminutive."

Don't get your panties in a bunch. I'm here now to reveal your teenhood saga for all the world to mock and enjoy.









As everyone remembers, our future little evil overlord here is a family sim. Something quite in conflict with his plans of world conquest.

"I thought you were going to change that in college. That is why I am striving to perfect my charisma. I want that scholarship."

We can try to change it. It'll all depend on how the die falls. But I don't think it looks like you're developing your charisma skills. You're practicing something though, that's for certain. If I look closer, will I find chap-stik prints on the mirror?

"Are you implying...!"

Well I do have that "first kiss" want locked for you

*grumble*

Go to bed and we'll see if we can't take care of that after work tomorrow.







Ahem. I thought I told you to go to bed.

"Whom are you to direct me what to do?"

I kind of am the person running this whole thing. I've already warned Kasson that Strangetown is overdue for another abduction. Him, I'd be concerned about if he got abducted. You, not so much.

"Hey!"









Would you just go to frickin' bed?!

"I must keep in good communication with my generals. Jasper has been patrolling the grounds as extra protection. I have felt... watched... more than usual lately."

Yeesh. Paranoid much? I mean, yeah, there are eyes upon you (more than just mine) but nothing to be concerned about.








Well, it would appear that Orrin has a good start on the "be commanding and intimidating" portion of being an overlord. He not only had a want to scold Felicia, but when he did, the poor puppy piddled herself.

I know someone who would be quite proud of you right now Orrin.


"Are you... mocking me?"

*sigh* Just. Go. To. Bed.









Seeing as someone refused to go to bed, he's dragging a bit now that it's time to go to work. So we'll give him a little help. Good thing he's still gold from scolding Felicia last night.

Put on the Noodlesoother Orry.


"You are NOT making me wear that... that..."

Yes, you are wearing it. If you do, you'll get a promotion today and you'll be an overachiever and get the whateverthefrell the scholarship is for overachievers. Wear the Noodlehootchie.

"But my nemesis, Mr. Noodle, will discover my whereabouts if I don one of his minions."

Put. The. Hootchie. On. Now.

"But..."

NOW! *taps foot* So, how do you feel Orry?

*sings* "I'm super! Thanks for asking!"

Gods help me, he's channeling South Park.








*still singing* "I'm SUPER! Thanks for asking!"

Yeah yeah, we know Orrin. That doodad on your head tells me you got your promotion and got that magic overachiever status. Now take the Noodlehootchie off. You're starting to scare me.








"Woman! If you ever EVER force me to don that malevolent excuse for headgear I'll... I'll... "

You'll what? I'm all atremble.

"Word fail me when I try to describe what I will do. I only hope that I was not bedecked in that thing long enough for my arch-enemy to locate me."

*looks bored and buffs nails on shirt* Yeah, we can only hope. So get yourself inside and call your girl. If you're lucky you might get a kiss out of her tonight.








You look a little confused there Orry.

"I do not understand the strange contortions. The dancing, the primitive pre-mating rituals, those I understand but this..."

You know, most guys would kill to date a woman that flexible.

"I still don't..."

*waits for the family sim aspiration to kick back in*

"understa...OH!"

He can only fight it so long. Now about that first kiss want he has locked in.








For two sims who are not attracted to each other in any way, they sure had no qualms about getting all over each other. Orrin's spun up a want to go steady with Brandi, but I think that'll wait for another night.







Shouldn't you be in bed young man?

"Brandi knows this spot down behind the swimming pool and..."

Cleveland's high school sweetie knew all about it too. The curfew cops know about it too. Just to let you know.








And indeed Strangetown's finest, Sgt Larry Mace, is on the ball tonight and brings our little curfew-breaking, spit-swapping overlord back home. Waylon unfortunately is either asleep or at work so there's no parent available at the Holldum estate to scold the truant (since the game doesn't want to recognize spouses of abductees as a valid scoldee of half-alien spawn)






But tomorrow is another day.

Looking good Orrin. Why am I not surprised that a lab coat suits you well.


"When do I get my mechanical hand?"

Er, you don't. Maybe after college we can arrange something. Now scoot off to work so you can ask Brandi to go steady once you get back.








Actually, the Holldum Estate is pretty hoppin' tonight. Orrin invited the blonde haired kid on the left home with him after school...

"I did not! He followed me."

And the llama. I have no idea who the llama is, who he followed home, or why he's here. Rabid fan perhaps?







But to the important question of the night, Brandi said 'yes'.

"Mmm... I like this."

I think she likes it too.

"But I fail to see how this furthers me on my path to overlordomship."

Even overlords have a softer side. See, that family aspiration isn't all that bad.

"Keth?"

Yes Orrin?

"Could we... ah... have a little privacy?"

You want me to make the llama leave too?

"Nah. Just... turn the camera off."

How about I fast forward a few days so you can be snuggly a bit?

"Thanks."

Enjoy it while you can. And hold on to those thanks. You may want to take them back later.








So, after giving Orrin a little alone time with Brandi and his family aspiration, we're back a few days later.

I'm not sure if it had something to do with the mysterious twin moons that night, if Orrin was right and Mr. Noodle finally succeeded in locating him, or if he was just looking through the wrong telescope at the wrong time (probably the correct answer), but Orrin was about to become another statistic in Strangetown.

It all started with a strange light from above...
.








"What the..."

*blink blink*

"That can't be..."

*rubs eyes*

"Damn your noodlesoother minions, and damn you Mr. Noodle."








"Aaaaahhhh!!! Let me go! Release me this instant! Aaaahh! Keth!"

Sorry, I can't do anything about this part.

"Someone?"

"Anyone?"

"Father?"

"Mommy!"








Eventually the Holldum clan began to trickle out to panic on the porch.

Waylon, in typical Holldum fashion, has something other than the current calamity at hand on his mind at the moment.








"And grandma got sucked up in her trailer."

Oh, sorry. Channeling old sit-coms there. But the littlest evil overlord was sucked up nonetheless.








And most of the family had the decency to at least panic of his abduction. A pregnant Shelby, however, just looks put out about the whole thing.

"Unca Orwee!"









"Oh Coo Unca Kathon. It wooks wike the fwying saucer is takin' Unca Orwee to da moon."

Hmm... I wonder if Waylon and Orrin were right, and there really is a secret base on the opposite side of the moon.







What goes up, must come down and so the aliens finally returned Orrin to where they'd found him.

Actually, I hadn't been expecting the return trip so soon, and when the UFO bipped into my view (I was watching Waylon trying to play fetch with Felicia) it darn near scared the pants off me.








"Hey! Get off my lawn! Damn noisy aliens."

You tell 'em Waylon.








One overlord in training, Orrin Seavey: folded, bent, creased, spindled, mutilated, processed, and rejected as being too young for proper experimentation. That or the aliens had another reason for returning him *whistles innocently*







Returned to the... um... relief of his concerned relatives?

Why are the Holldums always obsessed with running around in their underwear?








That is going to leave a mark in the morning. I mean, he's not on the pavement, he's in the pavement.







"I... I'm back home! But... they were the elite stealth troops of my archenemy. They were taking me back to him to be... to be... because I recognized my true potential and opted to claim this planet for myself. They were going to... Why did they bring me back?"

Because The Evil Overlord is rather interested in you and would prefer you not be hacked into little pieces to feed the Noodlehoovian moondoggies. Even your arch-nemesis is wisely hesitant to come between she and her plans.








"Wait! Did I hear you correctly? Are you implying there is another Evil Overlord... some sort of poseur attempting to lay claim to my domain?"

I'd be real careful who you call a poseur Orrin. She's not apt to take it well.

"She? This overlord is... female too?"

For someone who was just saved from becoming little chunks of quivering lunar canine kibble, you don't seem terribly grateful.

"And it's not you?"

Gods no. I can only dream of the amount of power she manipulates. I mean, she can make people twitch on command.








"So, if I am to believe you, there is already an Evil Overlord ruling this world?"

Well, it's a little more complicated than that. There are... duplicate Strangetowns... parallel Simensions... layers of neighborhoods... an entire multisimiverse out there, and she rules or has power in a number of them.

"And she sees potential in me?"

That she does. She's voiced interest and approval in you. In fact, at some past-future point in one of these simensions she did-might use the term 'yummy' in reference to you... or maybe it was/will-be your hair instead.

"You have now managed to thoroughly confuse me, which is quite an accomplishment considering my brilliant overlordly brain. Past-Future?"

Yeah, the whole time-space continuum thing tends to get a little funky when you start bouncing around through the multisimiverse and its 'wheres' and 'whens'. Explaining it is even worse. If I'm not careful, it'll come out like some kirkbridean lore from Morrowind But don't worry, things should straighten out a bit in a few chapters. How about you go and try to get a little sleep?








So Orrin was returned to his concerned and worried family. And what is the first thing he does? Whip out that frelling handheld and start going to town with it.








Buck up little camper. You're home safe and sound.

"Taken, from the front stoop of my own domicile, by forces serving my foe. What defenses must I raise to feel safe?"

Well, you're starting to sound back to normal. Er, not that you've ever been exactly normal. No offense. Look at it this way, you're eligible for the Alien Reparations scholarship now.

"Yay." *sigh*








Boy, this is really getting to you, isn't it? All you've done is mope around and now it's nearly time for school.

"In addition to the trauma of my abduction, you fail to grasp just how much of a blow it is to discover that not only am I not the only Overlord, but that I am the lesser of the overlords as well."

Actually, you're more kind of an overlord in training but we'll get into that in the past-future. Oh, and I can pretty much guarantee that any future abductions are going to be the normal 'probe and pollinate' type.

"You say that as if it is good news."

Hey, take what you can get. Now scoot. Your bus is here and today's a big day.

"How so?"

It's Omaha's birthday and you get to head off for college after her party.








Boy, the day just flies by when you hit that "3" key, doesn't it?

First we'll throw a quick party for Omaha, before she auto-ages at 6 pm. Orrin only has 2 days left (one, after 6 tonight) if he wants to leave for college. We'll have him call in his scholarships tonight and then leave for campus tomorrow at first light.

But that'll all be next chapter
.

Look! Here's Chapter 15 now. The Die Rolls...



(More...)