Day One < | Challenge Home Page | > Day Three

Jaz … was NOT going back to school. Why did school even exist? Why was this a thing?

Waking up to a vampire who still hadn’t left… certainly hadn’t helped Jaz’s morning mood.

The smell of coffee brewing made Jaz roll over and pull the blankets over her head. Maybe nobody would notice that she was still in bed.

From the next room: “You’re such a brown-noser, Myles. Why are you cleaning the dishes? EW!” Phoenix was taunting his brother, and his loud voice made the twins stir. This wasn’t going to make Marnie and Bennie happy. After taunting his brother, Phoenix went and woke up his parents. “Mooooom. All the cereal is gone, and we’re hungry! And DAD! Jazmyn is still in bed!”

“Why are you still in bed?!”

“Because I’m NOT going back to school. I hate it, the kids are mean to me!”

One thing you didn’t do – was talk back to Bennie. The lecture Jaz got after that certainly could be heard all down the street as the other stores were opening for the day. At least only Braydon and Brett had heard it, since everyone else was already off to school.

Embarrassed and upset, Jaz stomped along after her father as he drug her off to school – and straight to the principal’s office. Getting a detention on the second day of school had to be a record. And it certainly didn’t help Jaz’s standing amongst her peers.

Meanwhile, back at home, Marnie had managed to make some half-rotten fruit salad, which the twins were eating (mostly without complaint), and was now making some extra coffee. She was hoping fresh coffee would make Bennie a little happier about having had to manually drag Jaz to school.

After Bennie got home, he went straight to watching TV.. and when a twin interrupted him, the roar that filled the house seemed to even worry the vampire.. who still hadn’t left. Maybe he was afraid of the sun.

The twins gave up on trying to talk to their parents, and engaged the vampire stranger’s attention.

The vampire ended up growing and hissing at them unintelligibly, and Braydon hid his face, while Brett decided to give his dad a try again. Surely someone would want to play with him… or give him a much-needed diaper change or bath.

… Nope. Poor Brett ended up crying in the corner while his mother tried mopping up the stains in the living room. The mouse was unimpressed with the mopping, went to sniff the stinky toddler, and headed back into his hole in the wall.

By the time the kids were home from school, Bennie was in a real mood. He was determined to make sure Jazmyn got her homework done.. and of course Marnie was aiding Myles with his Math homework again.

Benji had invited his best friend, Jay, home from school, and in between joking around with his friend, he managed to get Jay to come upstairs to play some video games while Bennie was otherwise occupied. For once, Jay wasn’t talking only about his girlfriend, and Benji was definitely taking advantage of it.

Phoenix was back to practicing. Badly – torturing the whole house.

On the way back upstairs, Bennie corralled an escaping toddler, and drug him back upstairs to give him a (very late) diaper change.

Brett had found a toy and was actually behaving – quietly playing by himself in the kids’ room.

Bennie was annoyed, but for once, he was participating in the parenting – and the twins were both shuffled into bed: clean (ish) and sleepy.

He then grabbed a book, and forced Jaz downstairs for some reading practice. Why he chose this as punishment, nobody knows… but it certainly worked.

Jazmyn hated it the entire time. Even though it did complete the first step towards her mental aspiration. Between being forced to do her homework and reading practice, and knowing she had detention after school tomorrow, she was having the worst day ever.

This “practice” downstairs had given Jay and Benji plenty of time to play a few rounds of the game, and now that it was dark (and everyone in the family was starting to head to bed) – Benji gave Jay the secret club handshake, and bid him goodbye until tomorrow at school.

Once the kids were in bed, Marnie decided to make some Mac and Cheese in case the toddlers woke up, then she stumbled off to bed. Tomorrow would be a new day… all too soon.

(By this time, I had forced the vampire to leave with MCCC, because he seemed like he was thoroughly stuck here, and I was not ok with his lingering presence in the story!)

Day One < | Challenge Home Page | > Day Three

Moving In < | Challenge Home Page | > Day Two

Jaz had a miserable first day at school. The first thing she’d discovered is that there were more than one bathroom – and which one you chose was important. Which had led almost immediately to ridicule by her new peers.

“Why’d you go in the BOY’S ROOM!?” “HaHa, Jazmyn thinks she’s a BOY!”

Mortified for something she hadn’t known was wrong was horrifying, and Jazmyn spend the rest of the day trying to hide from everyone.

Coming home to the chaos of the Malone household.. was strangely, calming. Because in this house, it was easy to be alone, and forgotten.

She skirted past one of the twins (she hadn’t looked close enough to find out which), and grabbed some fruit salad off the filthy counter. (Since she hadn’t really had lunch…) After eating quickly, Jaz headed outside for some precious alone time.

Watching the clouds morosely, she finally started to feel more at peace again. Her usually calm demeanor returned, and she headed back inside.

She walked past Myles and her mother working on his new school project. They were so busy they didn’t even notice her walk past – which was fine by her.

Bennie was, of course, watching Sports instead of paying attention to the store downstairs. Jaz thought he had said there was a gig tonight, but apparently the winter games in Komorebi were more important. Jaz wasn’t about to remind him.

With everyone off doing.. something.. the bedroom was a haven of quiet. (So long as you ignored the sounds of the mice chewing the cheese off the end of the mouse trap in the hole in the wall…) She sat down, and began drawing. The clouds had inspired her, and, losing herself in her art, she managed to forget her horrific day.

In the living room, all hell had broken loose. Phoenix was practicing for his music lessons (badly, as the case might be..), one twin was ripping up a book he’d found on the floor… and Bennie was yelling at the other twin. For what? Who knows. He was just yelling.

In the bathroom, Benji was mourning a horrible day, as well. For his senior year of high school was supposed to be the king – and he had managed to say something really stupid to his crush. Getting his “queen” was seeming even more unlikely, when all she did was laugh at him and grab Cade’s arm, pressing her body against him as they walked away. By the time he’d finished crying his eyes out, he snuck back out of the bathroom, and immediately noticed a rank smell in the air. Frowning, he found a diaper, and went to locate the smell.

Brett was still blithely talking to his dad, who was, not surprisingly, still nagging the toddler for who-knows-what.

Everyone had managed to find the fruit salad on the counter, since dinner didn’t seem to be happening tonight with the project still being worked on by Myles and Marnie. Everyone found their beds, with Bennie being uncharacteristically nice and helping the twins get all tucked in after putting yet another mouse trap in the wall.

It wasn’t long before little Braydon had a nightmare, though.. (although the vampire randomly sneaking around the house throwing trash everywhere might have played a factor).. and he ended up going to wake up his parents.

Jaz rolled her eyes, flipped over in bed, and pulled the covers over her head. At least the other twin wasn’t awake.. yet.. and Braydon hadn’t decided to come in the kids’ room instead of their parents’.

Moving In < | Challenge Home Page | > Day Two

Meet Jazmyn < | Challenge Home Page | > Day One

This post is basically just a bunch of pictures and notes about changes I’ve made to the worlds. If a world is not pictured, I made no changes to it. At the end of the post are pictures of the renovation I did to the retail lot in Magnolia Promenade they will be living at. It IS set as a retail, so technically “home” is a blank lot in Willow Creek, but all “home” time will be at the apartment above the store.

(Tomorrow, we get this whole party started! I’m nervous as heck, so wish me luck!)

Meet Jazmyn < | Challenge Home Page | > Day One

Meet Braydon & Brett < | Challenge Home Page | > Moving In

Before I introduce Jazmyn, I must explain why Marnie continued to SAY she was taking birth control, but only pretend to take the pills. Partially, she was hoping for a sweet little girl to spoil, and partially, she was just looking for love. With the constant arguing and negativity in the house, it was easy for her to end up feeling unloved. Even though Myles clearly worshipped the ground she walked on, the hate she felt coming from the other children and her husband left her reaching for something more. Always something more. And so… Jazmyn entered the world.

Jazmyn Malone: Born a girl in a family that didn’t know how to handle girls, little “Jaz” (as she was often called) was, more often than not, just treated like one of the boys. Marnie couldn’t afford the pretty little dresses she had originally wanted to dress Jaz in, so Jaz usually ended up in the same old hand me down thrift clothes as the boys wore. Marnie longed to make Jaz into a little princess, but – to be frank – she didn’t have the time or the energy by the time Jaz was born.

So, Jaz was raised basically as one of the boys. It had never occurred to Jaz to mind, either, because being able to play freely in the mud and filth of the Malone household was high on Jaz’s list of priorities. Jaz had no intention of being any different, because being different seemed to mean being treated differently – and that was not a safe thing in the Malone household. In fact, Jaz had become the forgotten child in the family after the twins arrived. Marnie had her hands full, so making Jaz a pretty princess was literally the farthest thing from her mind. As for the rest of the family, they all had their own beefs with others in the family, and a quiet loner doesn’t make a big target, so they just left her alone.

It wasn’t until Jaz went to school for the first time that it ever came to Jaz’s attention that she WAS any different from the boys. Suddenly, which bathroom she were supposed to go to mattered, and the fact that Jaz didn’t know anything about being a girl became a problem. Life for Jaz had changed forever, and she was going to need to figure out how to handle it. The other children at school quickly pointed out that she was different, and being the invisible kid was no longer possible. Jaz was now the butt of the joke for the entire school – and her brothers weren’t even a little bit inclined to save her.

Which brings us to today. Jaz has been thrown into an inner crisis with nobody around to help her. Especially now that the twins are toddlers. There never was enough of Marnie to go around – but now there’s even less. So… approaching her mother for help was out of the question. And the over-worked elementary school teachers weren’t any more approachable. So, what’s next for Jaz? We’ll have to find out!

(Stay tuned, tomorrow I’ll show off some home and world pictures!)

Meet Braydon & Brett < | Challenge Home Page | > Moving In

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