Meet Phoenix < | Challenge Home Page | > Meet Jazmyn

Braydon & Brett Malone: I introduce these two little monsters together .. because that’s what they always are – together (and little monsters). They are the youngest of the family, and very clearly the most work. Neither of them have ever learned to be on their own, and they’re not likely to learn it any time soon. More often than not, they’re not even called by name – they’re just called “the twins”. They came about after Marnie had mostly decided (on her own, of course) to stop having children. However, accidents do still happen… and so, seemingly as Karma for all the “accidents” she had already claimed – she got pregnant one more time, and ended up with twins.

They are both fussy troublemakers, and very good what they do. Nobody has ever bothered to teach them any manners, and they just run wild in whatever space they find themselves in, whether it be another tiny, messy apartment, or the great outdoors.

Being the youngest in a family the size of the Malones, is, as you can guess, not easy. Especially when that family isn’t doing so well in the funds department. The twins might have started out better in life had they had some exposure to anyone other than family, but there was no money for them to go to daycare, so a beleaguered Marnie carts them with her everywhere. They end up being drug along to every scout meeting or sports game of Myles and Phoenix, and then promptly get left to their own devices. Which, as one can imagine, usually leads to disaster. I’m not sure the twins have ever heard anything other than a raised voice spoken towards them, usually in anger or frustration.

When Marnie has a spare moment, she does occasionally try to teach one or the other of them some skills, but the other twin is always nearly glued to their brother, and determined to get attention by causing trouble. …Which is not an environment conducive to learning. Will they ever learn life skills – or will they continue to be the millstone to a family that should have never gotten to this size?

(Stay tuned, tomorrow we meet the star of our story!)

Meet Phoenix < | Challenge Home Page | > Meet Jazmyn

Meet Myles < | Challenge Home Page | > Meet Braydon & Brett

Phoenix Malone: Phoenix came about because Marnie was so happy with her success with Myles that she decided she needed another perfect child. Only, someone forgot to tell Phoenix. From the time he was very small, the only thing he wanted to be was “just like Daddy”. Which, as we all know – was an unfortunate choice of role model.

Phoenix quickly patterned himself after his father. Ignoring his chores and his homework, and spending all his time trying to be the life of the party, telling jokes to his school friends. He, however, happened to be better at the joke-telling than his father, so making friends was a breeze.

This, however, unfortunately, made him the butt of the joke amongst his family. Nobody wanted to have a “mini-me” of Bennie around, so Phoenix ended up being a target for the resentment they had towards Bennie. Which only made Phoenix more convinced he wanted to be like his Dad. A vicious cycle that wasn’t about to end anytime soon.

(Stay tuned, tomorrow we meet the youngest twins!)

Meet Myles < | Challenge Home Page | > Meet Braydon & Brett

Meet Benji < | Challenge Home Page | > Meet Phoenix

Myles Malone: by the time Myles came along, the perfect little family trio was already beginning to shatter. Bennie was no longer the “perfect dad” and he had long since stopped pretending to be one. Instead, he had begun his quest to find the perfect get-rich-quick scheme. The one that would never end… because that doesn’t exactly exist. Marnie, however, had given up on making Benji the PERFECT son… and decided she would give herself a “do-over” with her next child. So, without discussing it with Bennie, she quit taking her birth control, and set about having another child to dote on.

Enter Myles. Mostly ignored by his father because he doesn’t seem to know how to get into trouble, and doted on by his mother because he seems to be the PERFECT little boy she had always wanted. As he grew up, he somehow thrived in and amongst this dysfunctional family. He didn’t seem to mind the hand me down thrift clothes, the parade of dirty apartments to live in, or the looks the other kids at school gave him. He never bothered with making friends, because he had all the support he felt he needed in his over-protective and super-supportive mother.

Day by day, he continued proving Marnie correct. He always did all his homework, and got the grades to prove it. He helped with the chores in the house, and seemed to ignore – and not even care – about the teasing and abuse he got from both his father and his older brother. Eventually, the two of them decided there was something wrong with young Myles… and they just began to ignore him in return.

Somehow, Myles had figured out how to carve out the perfect life for himself in and amongst the wreckage of the lives around him. How long this will last, however… is anyone’s guess…

(Stay tuned, tomorrow we meet the next kid!)

Meet Benji < | Challenge Home Page | > Meet Phoenix

Meet Marnie < | Challenge Home Page | > Meet Myles

Benjamin Malone Jr.: is better known by the shortening of Ben Jr. – Benji, and is the eldest of Bennie and Marnie’s kids. He was an only child for much of his early days, and his mother doted on him. At first, his father was an active and loving parent, and they seemed to be the perfect little family.

By the time he was a child, things had definitely changed, though, and not for the better. He had learned to avoid his father’s quick temper, and Benji spent more and more time outside the house with a group of boys that became known as “the Kleptos”.

By the time they were teens, they had basically taken over a local establishment and convinced the owners to turn it into a teenage rebel’s paradise. Woe to any other people who showed up, though, as the club was quick to cause mischief and torture any person they felt didn’t belong there.

By this time, you see, Benji and his friends were grade “A” bullies. Benji had channeled his feelings of inferiority from his father’s treatment of him into retaliating on the world around him. He wasn’t about to talk back to his dad (unless pride dictated he do it in front of his friends) – but everyone else was fair game in his mind.

The club stayed together because they had an unwritten rule to be friendly amongst themselves, and as the became teens, some of the boys started noticing girls and bringing them into the club, too. Benji wasn’t about to tell anyone, but he had a terrible crush on a friend’s girl, Shaylee. What this will do to his close relationship to his friend, Cade, is anyone’s guess.

Also in the club were brothers Jack and Ryan, who were always vying for the blonde dancer, Emily’s attention. Which one would she pick, or would she stay wrapped up in her dream dancing career?

Lastly, there was the sweethearts Jay and Rita, who seemed nigh inseparable. Benji hated the fact that he seemed to have lost his best friend, Jay, to a GIRL… but so far, he hadn’t made any waves about it. How long would that last with the jealousy already seething? Time will tell…

(Stay tuned, tomorrow we meet the next kid!)

Meet Marnie < | Challenge Home Page | > Meet Myles

Meet Bennie < | Challenge Home Page | > Meet Benji

Marnie Malone: Marnie is not her real name, but nobody is brave enough to ask what her original name is, and she is not interested in sharing. She had hopes and dreams once… but those have long since evaporated. All she has now is a marriage she feels she can’t leave, a whole passel of kids that stretch her patience every day, and a home that nobody would ever ask for. She feels completely hopeless and overwhelmed every day, but she doesn’t even have a place she can go to hide and have a good cry.

To compensate, she turns to anger. Anger at her situation, her worthless husband, and her disaster of a “home”. She tries hard to not be angry at the kids… but – you know as well as I do – that even positive, healthy intentions don’t always happen.

No-one, not even Marnie, remembers when she had time to have a career or a life of her own, nevermind the time to make or hang out with friends. Her world is focused on her kids and trying desperately to keep the horrible apartment they are forced to live in in one piece. There’s mice, and stains, holes in the walls, and no end to things breaking or getting dirty.

She’s learned to fix nearly everything that can go wrong (since Bennie is unlikely to get off his couch to help) from library books. She couldn’t afford to go to a class or buy a book, but the local library luckily has books on most everything.

If she could have the perfect day, it would be outside at a park in the sunshine, alone with a good romance book. But that day will never happen…. and she is unlikely to have any romance in her life any time soon. Perhaps once she wanted to be a librarian or a writer, but, as I already said, the ability to dream has left her life. The only thing left to her is a vacuum that doesn’t always work, her favorite necklace, her kids’ messes, and her mini “me” moments to binge-read a trashy romance novel.

(Stay tuned, tomorrow we meet the eldest kid! Also, since I forgot to put Bennie’s traits on his intro page (although they are there now) – I will include them here.)

Meet Bennie < | Challenge Home Page | > Meet Benji

Chapter 3.4 | Rules for this challenge | Chapter 3.6

Generation Three: Red

Appearance: Red hair, scandalous clothing style
Traits: Romantic, Hot-headed, Art Lover
Aspiration: Serial Romantic
Occupation: Art Critic
House Goal: 30,000 worth

Expansions

I had big plans. But with my fundage, I needed to start slowly. So here’s the new home. Charlie and I both have our own rooms now!

And The very best part – is that I have a deck to hang out on. I can paint out there for now – but eventually I’ll expand it and make it the place to be at in the home.

The other great thing? I finally have a table to eat at. It’s a small thing, but I’m really happy about it. To me, it’s a milestone. My house is finally becoming a home.

On my early morning swim, I met someone new. His name is Tamati, and his pink sunglasses really caught my eye. He didn’t get upset when I splashed him, and was intrigued by the fact I was friends with the local dolphins. He didn’t profess to know much about Mermaids, but I didn’t know much about being just a plain old Sim, either… so I figured we were “even”.

Eventually, I couldn’t resist, and I used some mermaid powers on him. Things were finally getting good… then I noticed the crying through the open window behind me. Apparently I was being paged. Sighing with disappointment, I made my excuses and went to take care of Charlie.

The annoying buzz of my broken computer annoyed me while I took care of Charlie, but since I don’t know much about computers, I was afraid I was going to have to take it into the local computer shop tomorrow. Snuggling close to Charlie while I absently wondered how much fixing my (very necessary) computer was going to cost me, I was surprised when I heard the front door open.

Clearly, Tamati had gotten tired of snorkeling, and had noticed where I had gone when I left him. He came in, and flirted some more…. which was music to my ears.

I could have done without the mask getting in the way, but as “real” first kisses go, it wasn’t bad. At least he wasn’t drooling on me. (And a Mermaid’s Kiss doesn’t really count as a first kiss – since they don’t really get a choice in the matter…) Then, I noticed Charlie fussing, and I impatiently excused myself to go check on her.

To my shock, I came back out to find Tamati fixing my computer. I stopped short.. and backed away silently, giving him time to finish fixing it. Charlie could always use extra cuddles, right?

When I came back out a bit later, my computer was up and running, and Tamati was terribly proud of himself. The flirting continued, and I wasted no time in inviting him to spend the rest of the night. He readily agreed, although he made it VERY clear I owed him nothing for fixing him computer. (The thought really hadn’t occurred to me.. or .. had it?) We spend a very cozy evening in, had some granola, and then turned in for the night. At least kissing wasn’t the only thing he was good at… !

(A/N: Sorry this post was a bit short… I had the hardest time figuring out what to say that wasn’t too snarky, because Kali can sorta be that way. It must be why I like her.)

Chapter 3.4 | Rules for this challenge | Chapter 3.6

The Brand New Menu Item < | Challenge Home Page | > Meet Marnie

Benjamin Malone: referred to as Bennie by all who know him – is not always a nice guy. He focuses (too much) on his comedy “career” – which consists mostly of open mic nights at the local lounge and a sometimes gig as a C-lister (when he remembers to go) – and not enough on his large family.

He grew up poor, and apparently is also mostly content to stay that way. He and his family live in a ratty apartment over a local store that he helps to manage. It certainly isn’t the “get rich quick” scheme he was told it was, and it’s certainly not what he wants to do for the rest of his life…. but it’s what he has to do.

His wife tries to keep up with the housework and the kids, while Bennie spends his days in front of the television, hoping to hear the bell of customers coming into the downstairs store. The kids have learned to avoid his ire, and play elsewhere in the house or outside on the nice days. His wife – is often not so lucky. It’s a good thing, I suppose, that they live in the retail district, because otherwise every neighbor within a mile would hear their legendary arguments. I suppose they were in love once.. but that was a long time ago, and things are different now. No one is sure why they stay together – maybe it’s for the kids. However, if it is… they are mistaken. Because hiding from your parents’ arguments is no way to live.

Not knowing any better, however, means that Bennie is unlikely to change. He continues to work during the day and haunt the mostly-empty lounge at night – waiting for his “big break”. The one that will likely never come.

(Stay tuned, tomorrow we meet Bennie’s wife!)

The Brand New Menu Item < | Challenge Home Page | > Meet Marnie

Challenge Home Page | > Meet Bennie

If you’re looking closely, you’ll find I JUST put in a new menu item to the top page menu. “One Sim” is short for “One Sim, One Lifetime”, and is a new project (and challenge) that I’m taking on, and the picture above is a teaser photo of the “One Sim” in question. I’m seriously excited about this. It will be mostly a blog / forums thing, but I will also tweet for each post in the project, and I may make a channel on discord about it (eventually). I have the page set up, and all the info you need to get acquainted with the project. Over the next few days, I will be posting more information about the Sims involved, and the project will be officially launching May 1st. For more information, click on the menu link, or the link HERE.

Also: I will 100% say – this is not going to restrict me posting on the rest of my blog stories. But it will mean there will be something fun on this blog EVERY single day. Blog posts will be in addition to posts from this project, and I’m still convinced I’ve come up with the best way to combine blogging and streaming – by using my “off day” (Sunday) – to play and write up posts for the following week.

I’m afraid that as soon as I read the rules for this, I was already hooked on this challenge. I tried to resist, but it just wasn’t happening. I couldn’t convince myself that a mere one day of sim time per day wasn’t something I could carve out time for. So… here we go again! This challenge is all about playing one sim – for a full REAL-TIME year. I plan to go longer than a year, but that doesn’t change what the challenge is about. Basically, you turn off aging and play one sim-day per real life day. Then, you post one (or more) pictures of the day, creating a picture album that lasts the sim’s whole life. This challenge is less about getting an heir or meeting goals and more about getting to know one sim.. and, in my opinion, about being able to stick to a schedule and go “the distance”. The rules are found on the Sims 4 Forums here: https://forums.thesims.com/en_us/discussion/985472/one-month-one-world-one-year-personal-challenge/p1 and it is one that anyone can do, even if you are too busy to do more than a short commitment each day.

Before I even planned to actually play the challenge, I had a sim and background story in my head. I sat down almost immediately and created some sims. Jazmyn’s story has changed a bit from when I first thought of it, but they are going to be a lot of fun to get to know as they grow. And yes, you read that right. Jaz is non-binary. You (and me) will find out more as Jaz’s story unfolds. The challenge asks for you to start as a teenager, but it was important to my background story to start as a Child-sim, so I am. I am also going to change the age-up length from three months to four. Both of these will make the challenge significantly longer, but that’s ok.

I will post a warning, however: this story WILL have triggering posts in it, and I do try to post a warning on the toughest posts, but I don’t always remember to, so be warned.

As of 9/25/2022: This story is still among my top priorities, although I will definitely say it has grown way beyond the bounds of the original challenge started. For that reason, (and because the name “OneSim” was just.. dumb) I am hereby renaming this story “Adventures With Jaz”.

Chapter 3.3 | Rules for this challenge | Chapter 3.5

Generation Three: Red

Appearance: Red hair, scandalous clothing style
Traits: Romantic, Hot-headed, Art Lover
Aspiration: Serial Romantic
Occupation: Art Critic
House Goal: 30,000 worth

Oops!

It was just another morning, working from home and enjoying my solitude. After checking in to work, I decided to go for a swim… only to be rudely interrupted by morning nausea. Now, that wouldn’t normally be too bad – I usually have a very strong stomach, so I figured it would pass soon – but this time, things were a bit more worrying. There was a definite pooch to my belly that really shouldn’t be there with how much I swim.

Unless… of course… there had been a little accident during one of my nightly romps under the covers. So, I took the day to go into the city, and stopped by a clinic to check for sure. One that wasn’t in my hometown and knew my entire family tree.

By the time I left their office, one thing was for sure. I was starting on the next generation way earlier than I had planned. I had NO idea who the father was, either.. so this should be interesting. On “the way” home I met up with a nice older man named Cameron, and we seemed to get along rather well… so I invited him home with me for the evening. At least there wouldn’t be any more accidents while I was already pregnant.. right?

While chatting with him by the beach, however.. I noticed a familiar figure at my front door. Dad. Sigh. And the way he was staring at my body in profile, I could tell he already knew. There was no hiding that belly in this swimsuit. Letting loose a huge sigh, I quickly changed clothes, and invited everyone in for some granola.

Dad bemoaned the fact that I didn’t have a life partner to share the raising of my “first baby” with. (And my first thought was.. first baby.. you mean only baby??) Cameron quickly excused himself.. and there went my idea of comfort for the night. I got out of the conversation with Dad as quickly as possible, told him to have Mom give me a call when she found out the news from him… because he certainly couldn’t be expected to keep a secret from her. And once she knew.. the whole town would know. She would be crowing about her first grandkid from the highest roof.

The next day was Spicefest in the city, and I excused myself from Sulani for the day. Of course, I found a handsome man nearly right away, and he was definitely amenable to my flirting, even though he could clearly see that I was pregnant.

We hung out for most of the day, and I tried the Curry Challenge – but of course I failed. Then, I ordered something that sounded good from the food stall – and that turned out to be spicy, too. Thanking my stars that my stomach could handle everything, and brushing off my new friend’s laughter at my predicament… I dug in anyways. I ended up staying the night at his place in the city… avoiding Sulani and the fact that Mom was probably keeping an eye on my front door from some local bushes or something. I’m sure she was more than ready to mother me while I was pregnant, but I was going to have no part of it.

The time passed much quicker than I expected – and I did manage to avoid most of Mom’s antics by going into the city a lot “for work” most days – but my “condition” was certainly noticed by everyone in town. Including my dolphin friends, who were unconcerned about me not having a partner, and joyous that I was bringing forth new life. I couldn’t stay away from home forever, though, because my scales were always desperate for the saltwater… so I had to bite the bullet and be at home at least a little bit each day.

Then… one morning, after breakfast and my usual swim, I was taking out the trash when the pains hit. Ugh. I was NOT ready for this. In fact, not even my HOUSE was ready for this. I was going to have to figure out what, exactly, I was going to do with a bassinet when I got home from the hospital.

And, yes, it was definitely time for that trip to the hospital. Fortunately, or unfortunately, I had the same doctor that Mom had when she gave birth.. only now he was a ghost. Rolling my eyes and gritting my teeth against the pain, I followed the nurse back to the operating room. … A place I hadn’t been to since I was born… and that I certainly didn’t remember.

They stuck me into this horrible machine, and proceeded to seemingly rip out half of my insides. I could have sworn I even saw my heart at one point.. but things were a bit hazy from the pain of labor.

By the time they announced my daughter.. DAUGHTER! .. I was exhausted, and more than ready to be done with this whole procedure. They requested a name for the birth certificate.. and I went with the first one I could think of. It was a boy’s name.. but I hadn’t exactly started planning out names. In deference to her being born a girl… I changed the spelling.. but she was forever going to be Charlie Naiades, now.

We got home from the hospital, and it was a beautiful afternoon. Which, I suppose, was a good thing, because there she was, in her bassinet.. outside the front door because there wasn’t much room inside the hut. Oof. This was going to be harder than I thought.

I called the local builders, and they approved an emergency afternoon build just to add a few feet to the dimensions of my house so poor Charlie could go inside. By the time the sun was falling, there was finally enough room for her. But neither of us got much sleep. I had called Mom and Dad to let them know the news, but adamantly refused to have either one come over tonight. I was sure I could handle things just fine. “Just fine” ended up being a long night of feeding, diaper changing, and cuddling, but the sun still came up the next morning.. and Sulani had her next heir.

I let her sleep in, and went out to relieve my itchy scales… glad for the smooth coolness of the water .. because I definitely needed that little “pick me up” this morning. With as close as my hut was to the beach, I was definitely in range to hear her cries should she wake up, so I enjoyed my time cavorting in the waves.

Nothing lasts forever, though, so she did wake up… and my computer was the cause. I was going to have to turn off the sounds from incoming mail while Charlie was tiny, apparently. Work was calling. But being a Mom now came first. I took care to get Charlie back to bed and rock her back into a blissful (although probably short) sleep, and logged into work on a now-quiet computer. Life goes on.. and I had work to do.

Author’s Note: Yeah. Risky Woohoo strikes again. I swear, I don’t have the percentage up very high, either! I was as surprised as Kali when the pregnancy notice popped up.. and for reference, the Dad is Rua. And he wants NOTHING to do with Kali anymore after seeing her with someone else. 0.o Oops. I guess she really is on her own now! On another front, Charley was the first name the game suggested, so I took it. … And while Kali was pregnant.. so was half the rest of the world. (See below for proof.) .. Hehe.

Chapter 3.3 | Rules for this challenge | Chapter 3.5