Strangetown: Chapter Twenty-Seven - part one

[strangetomato]

 

Warnings: language, sexual situations



Chapter Twenty-Seven

Part One






He heard the door slam behind him, somewhere down the dark corridor. So that was that. She was gone, and now he stood in an empty cell, completely alone.

What would they do to him now?




He closed his eyes and listened for some sort of sound. There was nothing.

Brothers, sister, I don't know where I am.

Could they even hear him anymore? He didn't know. His mind was empty.




He stepped further into the room, surrounded by blackness, with one bright shaft of light breaking down through the ceiling. He stood there, as his eyes adjusted to the darkness. Then he heard a sound.

In the corner, something stirred.




"Hello? You're new, aren't you?" It was the voice of a young girl.

"Hello?" He jumped back in shock. "Who's there?"




"Nobody important...," she said, "unless you want to run tests on me." He remained silent. "Oh, wait - that IS why I'm here. I guess that's why you're here too. What's your name?"

"No. 1... The first one."

"That's not a name."

He paused. She was right; It wasn't a name. He did have a name, even if he wasn't quite used to it yet. "Some people call me Ivar," he offered.




"That's good," she said, and she stepped forward, into the light. "It's good to have a real name. It'll help you when you feel lonely. I have a number too... I'm PT07HS0014, but I do have a name. In here, they call me Nova."

"They?"

"Oh. Yeah... mostly just her."




She pointed to the corner, where another girl was stirring from sleep.

"She's Wendy," she explained, "PT07HS0013."




"Can you keep it down, please?" Wendy said, "I'm trying to get some sleep."

"She's my half sister," Nova continued, ignoring Wendy. "Different 'mothers', though. Most of us hybrids are like that."




Wendy sat up and wiped the sleep from her eyes, but said nothing. Nova continued.

"We were born here, or, well... sort of."




She eyed him with curiousity. He couldn't be one of them, the hybrids. She could tell that just by looking at him. She'd never seen him before, so she wondered if he had been brought in, or if he had always been there. But then why would he be there, in that cell, with them? Those merely passing through didn't end up down there with them.

No, there had to be something special about him, or he wouldn't be there.

They continued to look at each other, cautiously, without saying a word. As his eyes adjusted, he noticed how sickly she looked. It was as if she'd never seen the light of day. A collection of scars suggested that she'd been in some sort of accident, like perhaps she had fallen from some great height, or something had struck her in the face. He had so many questions he could ask her, but he genuinely feared to know the answers.

Nova was the first to speak.






"So what's your story?"










Pascal knocked on the door to Bella's apartment. She had missed her appointment for the second day in a row. He wasn't in the habit of making house calls to his patients, but he was beginning to worry about her.

He stood in the hallway, waiting. Behind him, some children were running around, making the floor clang and shake with the footfalls. The space filled with the chatter.

"Last one to the playground is a rotten egg!" a young boy yelled.

"No way, you big cheater!" she squealed.

"Sharla-warla is a gross rotten egg!"

"A-DAM! AM NOT!"

Pascal sighed. He liked to hear children playing, but he'd had his fill for that morning. He was getting a headache. He was relieved when the door finally opened.




"Oh! Mr. Curious... hello."

"Hello, Bella."

"This is a surprise," she said. She seemed a little flush.

He could tell it had indeed been a surprise by the way she was wearing a hastily-tied rope. "I'm sorry. I tried calling first, but there was no answer..."

"Oh, right... it was off the hook. Sorry about that."




"Oh, well that makes sense... but I didn't know that," he said, "It could have been something serious, so I decided to drop by on my way to work."

"Were you worried about me? That's very sweet of you."

"Well, you've been missing appointments."




"Oh, right... that." She ran her fingers through her hair in an effort to smooth it. "I've been a little busy."

Pascal resisted his urge to scold her, since she was a grown woman, but he thought she should have been a little more considerate. "You could have called."

"Yes, you're right. I should have called."




"It's okay," Pascal sighed, "but I would appreciate it if you called next time. Or rather... you really should try to make it to our next session. We've been making good progress, and I'd like to discuss it."

"Okay, I'll do that." She looked him over. "Did you walk all the way here? In this heat?"

"It's not so bad. I'm used to it." He adjusted his tie. "I might bother you for a glass of water, though."

"Oh, well now, where are my manners? Please come in for a while..."

Pascal stepped in Bella's apartment and looked around. It was much as he imagined it would be: elegant and refined, but spare and uncluttered. It was well-kept. Much like Bella herself, there wasn't a thing out of place.




She poured him a glass of mineral water, and he drank it down in three gulps.

"Wow, you were really thirsty, weren't you?"

"I wasn't lying," he confirmed.

"Please don't mind the dust," she said, gesturing around the room. "I haven't gotten around to cleaning it in a while. I know what you're like, so you probably see every speck, don't you?"

"Honestly, it looks fine to me."




It did look clean enough, but there was also a dusty, antique quality to a lot of Bella's belongings, like they came from a different time. Bella herself was something like that too.

"You're sweet," she said. When she held his gaze like that, he could see how easy it must be for men to fall under her spell. She was striking, of course, with her deep brown eyes and her smooth complexion, and there was also some strange and undefinable warmth in her face that pulled you in.

Behind Bella, the bedroom door swung open. Pascal jumped back, a little startled.




A man, one that was clearly of the tall, dark, and handsome variety, stepped into the room. "Oh," he said, "We have company, do we?"

Pascal just stared at him, speechless. "Oh, hey... this is Don," Bella said.

Don adjusted his crotch, making sure everything was where it should be. Pascal's eyes were drawn to the movement, but quickly looked away. Don noticed this and laughed.

"Just keeping the boys in line," he said, "You know how it is, right?" Pascal didn't answer, and Don continued to root around down there. "What's your name? I didn't catch it."

"Pascal."




"Pazz-KELL." Don repeated it, imitating Pascal's accent. "Funny name, isn't it?"

Pascal remained stoic. "I wouldn't know... but it doesn't usually get a lot of laughs."

"Yeah, I see..." Don imagined that very few things Pascal said would draw laughter from people. He was about as stiff as his white labcoat, which seemed to have been starched.

"Pascal is my therapist," Bella explained.

"Oh. Is that so?" Don said, "Looks about right."




Pascal's eyes wandered into the bedroom through the opened door. The disheveled sheets spelled out what had taken place there in perfect detail.

Not that he hadn't been able to put it together as it was.




"See you later, babe." Don planted a kiss on her mouth, and then continued to kiss down her neck.

"Don!" she squealed, "don't..."

"You weren't saying that a minute ago."

"Shhh..." She giggled, and tried to keep him from saying any more. Pascal diverted his attention around the room, as he stood there, feeling extremely uncomfortable and out of place.

"Well, have fun, kids!" Don said, despite the fact that he was obviously younger than them both. He looked Pascal straight in the eyes, and winked. "Not too much fun, though." Then he was gone.




As he left the apartment, Don Lothario reflected on his relationship with Bella Goth, what it had cost him, and what he went through to keep things as they were.

If he had known, back then, what he knew now, would he have chosen to do it all over again? Would he have invited her over to his condo that fateful night?

He could have done things differently, and avoided this whole mess. Now he was up to his eyeballs in it...




But it was undoubtedly worth it.




"Sorry about that," Bella said.

"It's okay." He shuffled around on his feet, and she could tell he was very uncomfortable with the whole situation. "Well, I should go..."

"Wait," she said, stopping him in mid-turn. "You may as well stay for some coffee now... since you're here."

He wondered if Don had initially showed up for 'some coffee' too. "I really need to get some work done at the lab today," he said.

"Just one cup?" she asked, with a pleading expression that was hard to resist. "I'd really love the company... and we could talk about my progress and all that."

"Well... okay."






"Erin, you're not being very social." She could hear the mounting irritation in Ajay's voice.

"Sorry," she said, "I've got something on my mind."

He was about to say, "That's a first," but thought better of it. He had no reason to be unkind, but Erin wasn't being a very good date at this dinner party, and he was trying to make a good impression on a number of the guests. Erin wasn't her usual, blue-blooded Beaker self. He could usually count on her for that essential support, and she didn't look bad on his arm either. "Erin, you know this is important to me..."

"I know. I'm sorry. I'll try to perk up."

Erin was thinking about the clones back at home.




She hoped that one of the clones hadn't forgotten to turn off the stove when they were finished cooking. The thought of them in danger was very upsetting to her.

Also, she had just renovated the kitchen. To have it damaged like that so soon after finishing it would be heartbreaking.

Hopefully, they were all occupied with their studies, like most evenings.






Erin was proud of all the progress she'd made with them in such a short time. Despite their inexperience, the clones had the mental capacity of any normal adult, and they picked up new information quickly.

They learned things faster than she did. It wasn't long before they were teaching her a thing or two.




With the family fortune in her possession, she had set up a great study area for them in the old lab. They spent most days in there, working on their various hobbies and skills.

They were all doing so well.




Still, the potential for mishap was there, so she worried.

She hoped they woudn't try to cook anything while she was away. She'd made them some grilled cheese sandwiches before she left, but most of them had killer appetites, so they might still get hungry.




Then again, Mani was becoming a pretty good cook, as long as it was grilled cheese sandwiches. It was always grilled cheese sandwiches. Erin liked them, but she wasn't sure she liked them enough to eat them for every meal.




Mani: it was his new name. They all had names now. Erin had seen to it that they were given proper names as soon as possible. They were obviously people, she figured, with different personalities, so they needed their own names.




They had each selected a wardobe for themselves too, and Erin had gone on a shopping spree to pick up all the clothes. Now it was quite easy to tell them apart.

There was the girl, Linnea. Not surprisingly, she was something of a tomboy.




Then there was Ivar, the resident geek, and Todd.




And Todd...

Todd was something else entirely.




As bold as brass, and constantly seeking attention, Todd was nothing like his brothers and sister.






And he quite obviously had a crush on her. She wasn't really sure what to think of that, but she couldn't deny that she enjoyed the attention.




He was cute too. Very odd, but also very cute.




"Erin?!"

Ajay was staring at her. She was doing it again.

She shrugged it off and forced a smile. He smiled back, and went to chat with Malcolm Landgraab and one of his business partners. Erin scanned the room for someone to talk to.




"Are you as lost as I am? You look it." It was a man's voice.

She turned to meet a face that seemed vaguely familiar to her. "No, I'm just tired."

"Oh, right. You're used to this sort of thing, aren't you, Erin?"

"How do you know my name?"




"Are you joking?" He pointed to his chest. "Lazlo. We went to school together."

Lazlo. Lazlo Curious. Erin felt a shiver go over her body.




She could hear a teenaged Loki in her mind, barking advice:




"Don't talk to Curiouses."

"Why not?"

"Because they're a bunch of freaks. They're alien-loving deviants. Do you even know where alien babies come out of the body?

"No... where?"

"They shoot out of the man's asshole."




"EWWWW! That's GROSS!"

"It is. It's disgusting. They're disgusting ass-babies. Glarn probably shit the rest of them out too."

"That's not true."

"It might be. They're all dirty anyway. They don't even have a mother to look after them anymore. They don't have any money. Do you want to be seen talking to someone like that?"

"No."




But that was a long time ago, wasn't it? She had lived with his sisters for years. His disgusting ass-baby sisters. She hadn't let that stop her then, so why should she cling to those prejudices now? It seemed different, though. He was one of the brothers, and had been in direct competition with Loki all those years. Talking to him felt like slapping Loki in the face.

"So, why are you here? I mean, are you here with someone?" She realized how this must have sounded, so she tried to cover her implication. "Not that I don't believe you'd come to something like this -"




"It's okay. You're right." His smile reassured her that she hadn't offended him. "I wouldn't be here if I wasn't with someone else." He tilted his head in Crystal's direction.

"She's pretty. Your girlfriend?"

"Yup."

Erin looked him over. "You used to have long hair, right? You looked better with long hair."

"Oh, really..."




"Didn't you have a goatee too? I don't know why so many guys insist on growing those"

"Well, It's sort of like proof that you can grow facial hair."

"Boys are silly."

"I was mostly just trying to trick people into thinking I had a chin."

"You do have a chin."

Lazlo laughed. Erin really hadn't changed much over the years. She'd always been a pretty girl, and she seemed nice, if not also a little shallow.




"What did you think of that meal?" Lazlo asked.

"It was okay. At least it's not a grilled cheese sandwich."

"Umm... do they often serve such meagre offerings at these posh affairs?"

"Oh... no, it's just something from home. Nevermind."




"Was that really llama meat?"

"I think so. Why would they lie about something like that?"

"I don't know... to seem cool?" Lazlo smirked. "Yeah... I'm not sure about that. It seems sort of... questionable to eat such a noble animal."

"Yeah... but it's not any worse than eating something like veal, is it?"




"No, I guess not," he said, "but call me crazy... I'm not really into the idea of veal either."

As a child, Erin had always loved veal, but once she had learned what it really was, she hadn't been able to eat it without wanting to cry. "I know exactly what you mean."

Her father hadn't been too pleased when she had announced her teenaged vegetarian phase, making loud proclamations about their proud Beaker ancestry and how they used to eat any animal that moved.




"All manner of fantastical beasts!" Bjorn would roar, "They ate anything they came across as they raped and pillaged most all of Sim Earth."

Yes, he hadn't been impressed, and he'd been right to mock her. She was only a vegetarian for two weeks. Still, she never did eat veal again.




They continued to talk until Ajay returned.

"Not interrupting anything am I?" he joked.

"Not at all." Lazlo held up his hands.

"Are you ready to go, Erin?"

"Yes, I think so." She turned to Lazlo. "I'll see you later, maybe. It was nice catching up."

"Yeah, it was," he said.




He looked across the room to where Crystal was lost in conversation. It had been nice to talk to someone about something frivolous at one of these parties for a change. Trying to act interested in all the shop talk really wore him down after a while, and he had to try to be agreeable.

Things we're strained enough as it was.

Back in Strangetown, Pascal was also having a conversation with a woman.




"So, I hope you don't mind me asking, but who was that man?"

"Oh, that was Don."

"Yes, you told me his name, but... who is he? Have you known him for long?"

"Oh yes, I've known him for years. Not very well, really, but I'd see him on and off when he was visiting the area. He works in Sim City, as a doctor. I met him there during my initial treatment." She gazed off into the distance. "Lately, I've been thinking there's something familiar about him, but he says we never met before my time at the hospital."

Pascal turned this information over in his mind. It wasn't unusual for Bella to get her memories confused.

"He's just a nice guy," she added.

Pascal's eyes drifted to where Bella's robe was falling open. She noticed him looking and adjusted it. "Oh, silly me... giving you a show, am I?" She shot a coy smile in his direction and watched for a reaction. She enjoyed seeing him squirm when he was uncomfortable, but Pascal kept his cool.




"Have you remembered anything else lately?"

"Yes."

"And what was that?"

"It's not a good memory."

"Do you mind talking about it?"

"It's okay... it's actually both good and bad, sort of."




In my dream, my memory... I'm a mother.






I'm watching my daughter playing with my son, as I stand nearby in the room.




I realize that I don't know their names. I want to call them by name, but I can't.

I can't even breathe.




Then I'm hyperventilating, and a man rushes into the room to calm me. It works.




He must be the father of the children, but I don't recognize him. He has this warm, familiar quality, and he's very handsome, but I don't remember him. I don't know his name either.

Then the panic starts all over again.




"I wake up in a cold sweat."

"The panic is just part of the dream." Pascal reassured her. "It's a common physical reaction. Many people experience sleep paralysis, and it often comes with hallucinations, and even brief periods where it's difficult to breathe. That's why you felt as though you were suffocating."

"It was so scary."

"Was there anything in the room that seemed unnatural? Supernatural?" Many people blamed sleep paralysis for things like ghost sightings and alien abductions, though Pascal knew better than to completely agree with those theories. Still, the presence of something unusual might identify whether this truly was a memory, or just a dream.

"No," Bella said, "It seemed very real, and very familiar, even though I had no idea who anyone was, if that makes sense."




"Yes, that makes perfect sense, if this is indeed one of your memories returning. And you've had this dream more than once, you say?"

"Yes. Many times."

"Well, please pay attention to any changes and write them down in your journal. We can discuss it later, at your next session." He paused. "You will be making it, right?"

"Yes. I'll be there, Mr. Curious."

"Pascal," he offered.

"Pascal." She repeated the word, and smiled.








"So, your place or mine?" Ajay asked, as he pulled into the driveway. Erin took a deep breath.

"Well, actually..."

His face fell. "You can't be serious. We haven't even so much as looked at each other naked in months." His tone was venomous.

"It hasn't been months, Ajay. More like weeks."

"Well, months, weeks, days, what's the difference? It's been too long."

"I'm sorry. I've just been -"




"Busy." He cut her off. "Yeah, I know. You're always busy."

"Well, it's true."

"You never used to be busy."

"Look, I said I was sorry."

"What's suddenly so much more interesting and important than me?"




"I... it's nothing, really." She knew she would make things worse by keeping the truth from him, but she couldn't tell him about the clones. She was sworn to secrecy, and it was for their own good. If word got around that she was keeping clones in her home... well, it wasn't something you wanted a lot of people to know about, was it?

She kept quiet. Even if she could tell him, what would he even think of that? She suddenly felt like it was all none of his business.

"Look, Erin... why don't you give me a call when you're ready to get serious about this." His hands gripped tightly to the steering wheel.

"But what about the gala next week?" She had already picked up a new dress for that.




"I'll make other arrangements," he said.

"Other arrangements?"

"Yeah."

"Oh." There was one thing he could mean by that.

"Yeah... Oh." He shuffled around in his seat, and then turned to look at her. "There are plenty of other women who'd love to go to that, you know."

"Well, then I hope you have a wonderful time!" she spat.




"Erin..." He let out a long sigh. "You're welcome to come with me, of course, but I'll need your undivided attention."

"I said have a wonderful time, Ajay."

"So that's it?"

"Yeah, I guess it is."

"God, Erin. You have to be the most difficult woman on earth. I can't figure you out." He turned to look at her again, ready to lay out a list of her crimes against him.




But it was too late. She was already getting out of the car.

"Look, I'll drive you home, at least."

"No. I'll walk. I am capable of walking up the hill by myself. I'm not completely helpless, you know. It's not that far."

"It's not good for a woman to walk alone at night."




"Thanks for your concern," she said, and she meant it. "But I'll be fine."

"Are you sure?"

"It's Strangetown, Ajay."




"That's what worries me."

"Goodnight, Ajay."

"Goodnight."




She walked up the hill, surrounded by the blanket of night. It was so quiet, she could hear nothing but her footsteps beneath her.




She felt uneasy. She couldn't explain it. Strangetown was her home, so why should she feel afraid? She had walked this road a thousand times, but tonight it felt different. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up. The darkness felt threatening, as if something watched her, unseen... waiting.




It was too quiet.










She could tell right away that something was wrong.




"Linnea?"

She was standing, motionless, in the corner. "He's gone. That woman... she came with some men in uniforms. And they took him," she said, "They took No. 1, and we don't know where they've gone. We can't even hear him anymore. He's gone. No. 1 is gone."




"Ivar," Erin said, "His name is Ivar."

"Ivar... Yes, you're right."

"Not that it matters much to Circe." Erin clenched her fists tightly. "That bitch."

"Is Circe that woman? I never knew her name..."

"Yes, Circe is that woman. She's the devil's own mistress." Erin gritted her teeth.




"Well, I hope she's fond of hell, because I'd like to put her there myself if I can."




Erin knew she had no power over Circe. Going up against her would prove disastrous. She had so many tricks up her sleeve, so many connections...

Erin was sure she didn't even know the half of it.






She was right.




The clones. What was their purpose? Loki and Circe had created them for some reason, surely, but what was it? Why had they needed copies of their test subject? Wouldn't one do?

Unless...




Unless the Beakers had intended to use them up in the process.

Oh dear God...




Maybe Circe intended to kill them.

Erin felt her legs grow weak. She was sick to her stomach. She lowered herself to the floor and sat there.






No... who would do such a thing? Not even Circe... surely...




"Are you okay?" Todd asked. She could see how worried he was, and she didn't want to upset them any further.

"Yes, Todd... I'm okay. I just needed to rest for a minute."

What she really needed was help, but where would she find it?




She thought back to her run-in with Lazlo, and her former roommates. The Curious family was good at keeping secrets. All their research was hidden from Loki all those years. Maybe they could help her to hide them, or keep Circe out somehow. Perhaps she could appeal to them to help her.

But would they trust her, as Loki's sister?




What other options did she have?

---

Notes:

It's nice to be posting chapters again. It took a while to get back into the swing of doing this again after my break, and it feels great to finally post this.

Don Lothario looks like a penis. He's basically a phallic symbol (SIM-bol?), with the bell-shaped head the pompadour gives him. (I really wanted to have Pascal make this observation, but it wouldn't have fit his character at all.) On all my previous playings of Pleasantview, I've given him a makeover, but here I need the most essential, purest Don I can possibly create. I kept his very appropriate hair and goatee, and just updated his dickhead uniform (named thusly for the type of dude that tends to always wear those striped button-downs to pick up at the local meat market), added a high-tech. watch, and the finishing touch - a gold chain. Perfect. You meet him, and you know right away that he's a bladder infection just waiting to happen.

There's a small chance that a couple of you will recognize Nova from somewhere, since she's an older sim of mine, and I made a post about her back in my older journal. I liked her so much that I decided to reuse her here. I won't say much more about the connection at this point, but there's a link there.

Also, I've already posted about it, but I'll mention it again here... I'm the featured storyteller for the Storytellers Spotlight this week at simstorytellers. If you have any questions for the interview, please comment in the announcement post.

Thanks for reading!








 

Comments

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

:D

I won't say where exactly that scene took place just yet. Circe dropped him off there, but it's probably not on her own property. Anyway, I won't say anything more than that. It is very sad to see those girls like that, but that just shows you that there are some terrible things taking place in the background here, and it's been going on for a long time. Nova said they were "sort of" born there, so that's been a long while.

Don is QUITE phallic-y. :P Even without the hair, he probably gives off that vibe, but with the hair... he gives new meaning to the term dickhead. Don is pictured with Bella at the time of her abduction, and she's on his roof, so that's what I'm basing his involvement on. Not telling her where she comes from is pretty low, but perhaps he has his reasons (not necessarily good ones, though). Heheh. The gold chain was meant for Don.

I'd love to see what he gets up to in a merged hood. I'd say he'd go for most of Strangetown. He was really good chemistry with Circe too. Triple bolts with Bella though, and he's not the only one... ;)

I love slipping a few celebrity cameos into Malcolm's parties. All the rich scoialites and famous people frequent his events. He runs a nightclub too, so you know he likes to have them seen there.

Yeah, Erin doesn't seem right in a big evil mansion by herself. She turned the pit that nervous lived in into a hottub room. :D Unfortunately, ACR makes it so she's contactly wanting to go down there with a certain clone. O_o Stop it, ACR!

And yeah, if the Beakers are so secretive, they might have invested in a door or two. Or maybe they're so nasty that they don't even need them.

Ivar's outfit is one of the new things from the Sims 2 Store, which you can pick up at MATY. His hair is form there too.

Oh yeah, he's a romance sim. He's a Leo too, I think. He's one of those max outgoing finger-gunners. He's too cute.

Yeah, Loki's pretty nasty about the alien thing, and his hatred of the Curious brothers is palpable. I've always thought ass-baby seemed like a derogatory term, even though people just intend it to be funny. I thought it sounded like something mean kids would call aliens at school. Like sure... they came out of someone's ass, but why does that matter? Normal birth isn't pretty either.

Yeah, I don't think I'd be able to eat veal either. I'm not even too keen on lamb, and they don't go through the awful process that veal does. I'm glad you liked the way I'm working with Erin. I think she'd be proud and very attached to her Beaker status, but she's also a whole lot more humane than Loki.

I went a bit crazy with AL outfits. There's a lot of nice stuff there. Better dresses and suits than a lot of the previous EPs.

I like Charlotte a lot, despite her shortcomings. I think she's a nice girl, but she's very traditional and very much a Worthington. I'm looking forward to throwing them a huge wedding. Yeah, Malcolm still has his brown suit, but he like to get dressed up too. I like his new big hair, though. :D He has a short of small head, so it evens him out.

I did make Bjorn myself. He's mostly Loki, but I amplified his masculine features (bigger chin, wider jaw, etc.). Those brows are just frightening. I'm so glad Vali inherited them.

Circe is pure evil. There's no doubt about it. It's fun having someone who's unapologetically nasty like that, as much as I like characters to be a mix of good and bad traits. There's nothign like a wicked villain, and I love playing with Circe. She's awesome.

Thank you. :) It's great to be back in the swing of things. Part 2 will be coming fairly soon, I think. Lots of Nervous-y goodness and a little more Circe too.

[smjoshsims.livejournal.com]

Ooo, so it isn't her basement. Now that I think about it, keeping people so close isn't her style. Well, not counting Nervous, of course. :P

I love the fact that you call him a dickhead. xD It's the perfect way to describe him, when you think about it. I just assumed he wanted to keep her there so she wouldn't be near his other squeezes.

Ahh, that's ridiculous! I wonder what Nervous would think of his old room being used for such freshness! How many bolts do Todd and Erin have? I didn't think Fortune and Romance would do so well...

That's probably it- their reputation protects them, nobody even tries to break in. I pity the burglar that does. O_O

I'll look for it, then. I only kept the hairs, and I actually deleted some of them. (Frankenstein, Maxis? NO THANKS.)

I've never heard the term ass baby, so I was even more shocked when he said it. I usually am, when presented with blatant hate. (Be it racism, homophobia, misogyny, etc.) I just on't understand why someone would HATE someone based on something so trivial, like where they're from or what they look like.

I love most of the AL stuff. I spotted some on Lazlo too, I've been using that outfit like crazy.

I cannot wait for the huge society wedding. I imgaine it will be huge and extravagant and EVERYONE who's anyone will be there. I love Sim Weddings. ^__^

Bjorn is frightening, let me tell you. He served his purpose for sure.

I agree with you. Wicked villains are usually more scary than others, if only because you know they're evil and that's it- no other motivations.

Nervous/Pascal hug? Or anything?!?! r is he still too traumatized?

Also, when I heard a line I got to thinking: "Pazz-kell." Is that how you pronounce his name? You never did tell us what the Strangetown accent sounded like. :P

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Yeah, they did keep Nervous close, but they had the whole "adopted child" front going there. And she probably wouldn't want the whole alien thing getting out.

Yeah, he's a dickhead. He has dicks for brains. :P Well, part of his Bella thing is so he can have her to himself (since Mortimer is still alive at this point), but there's more to it than that. I'm pretty excited about this whole conspiracy. There's some bad shit going on there.

I think Todd and Erin have two and their turn ons are probably not matched up (I do that when I'm sure about a couple). Erin is actually Popularity, so that would be why. Her secondary is fortune and his is family (like Nervous), so those match up too. Eeep.

The Beakers eat burglars, I'm pretty sure. Circe knows 238 ways to make a person scream! She collects coat hangers! Scary! Man, she needs a cowplant, but I'm saving that for Vali... ;)

I didn't even download the Frankenstein heads. ;) DO NOT WANT!

You never heard ass-baby? It's pretty common in the sims community. It bothers me in the same way buttsex does. I can't be the only one who senses some homophobia there. I mean... I would just call it sex... right? Anyway, Loki made a good vehicle to use that term and call a spade a spade. It sounds like hate speech to me.

Yeah, I like that A outfit a lot. I wish it didn't have ripped jeans, but I can fix that, if needed. Have you downloaded the converted landlord outfit? I LOVE that one. It's SO FRANCES. :D I'm using it on him as an adult for sure. He really needs a vest. Oh, here it is:

http://www.modthesims2.com/showthread.php?t=301224

*hearts*

I'm going to have a ball with the wedding. I have a very dramatic twist planned. ;) But enough about that...

Circe has motivations... power and greed. Fame and noteriety. It's a purpose, but not really a pleasant one.

Nervous is getting over it, but he's still very troubled. You'll see. (Soon, I hope.)

That's a little like I would say it. Not so much "kell" as kall", but not "kahl", if that makes sense. It would be funny if I gave them my accent. It can be severe. (Strangetowners are Newfies, LOL. That would be a fun angle.) I don't actual really know what the accent sounds like, but I imagine it as something entirely different, and probably a combination of many different things.

[smjoshsims.livejournal.com]

I completely forgot they "adopted" him. It sucks to think they had him there all those years no one knowing what was going on.

I don't know why I thought she was Fortune. She has two Bolts with Ajay (the player in my megahood), so I guess that's why.

Buttsex doesn't really bother me, even though I am gay. *shrugs* I just never really thought about it as hateful.

OH ZEUS YES LOVE THAT OUTFIT. I downloaded it as soon as I saw it, but I haven't used it on anyone. It's special. :}

In my legacy post, I imagined that Sims from Desiderata Valley would have no accent, they would have "Middle English", English with no extreme pronunciations. I imagine the Strangetowners as having kind of the same. I really can't imagine them with a Southern Accent, but... I don't know. It's fun to guess what they sound like, especially when the reader and the author are from two different countries. :)

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it wasn't really an official adoption, since he just showed up on their doorsetp, but that would have been their cover for it.

Fortune and Popularity always have good chemistry in my experience, even though they officially aren't supposed to. It makes sense, though, since the one with all the friends would be helping the career-minded sim, since the whole household friend count goes toward the career requirement.

Hateful wasn't really the word I was going for (that was more directed at ass-baby, which seems way ruder/meaner). It just seems rather insensitive to me. I know people just mean it to be funny (and it can be), but it draws attention to it as something "different", since they could just call it sex (Pixel_and_bean once suggested that we start using pussysex too, to be fair, and I think she has a good point there). I don't know... I get really sensitive about language sometimes (probably because I read too much feminist and gender theory writing). There's a lot of things implied in the subtext that we don't even realize half the time. But anyway... back to something frivolous....

I LOVE that outfit SO MUCH! I know I said it already, but damn. It's one of the best they've included with the game so far. Oooh, it would be great if it was converted to go with a skirt too, for the ladies.

Ahhh, but see... Middle English would most definitely be an accent to me. ;) But I see Strangetown as having a variety of accents. The Smiths might have hints of an alien accent from PT (who knows what that would sound like), and the Beakers probably have some sort of Scandinavian accent, given their name references. I get a bit of a Native American/First Nations thing from the Curious brothers (well, Pascal and Lazlo, anyway), so they could always have an accent like that. The Grunts weren't even from there originally, and they traveled a lot, so the boys probably don't have much of an accent at all, or it's a mix of things. And that's if you want to reference real world accents. It could be something entirely different. Pretty fun to think about.

I'm sure anyone reading it could come up with their own accent in their mind, if they wanted to. the only thing I'm really sure about is the Veronaville accent being sort of British (or a sim equivalent of it), since it has so many references to that in the architecture, and with the whole Shakespeare thing.