#So many Newsons so little time

[piedpiperart]

Marked for Death pt 16

Chapter 15

“You’ll let me know when they catch him?” Tim asked, standing by the car.

“Yes, I will,”Jason repeated. His men had gotten a sighting of their serial killer and Jason had run facial recognition on the guy and gotten a hit. Gary Newson, 34, worked at the bank across the street from the college. Which meant that after dropping Conan off at school, Jason would apprehend the guy. 

“You sure it’s safe to get him during the day?” Conan grimaced. Jason sighed fondly, watching his kid rock back and forth on his heels. 

“I’ll be safe,”Jason reassured. “I’ll get him, don’t worry.”

“Okay, but text me when you do,”Conan said seriously. 

“You’re supposed to be in class, not on your phone,”Jason reminded him. “And your phone is supposed to be for emergencies, kid.”

“I wanna make sure everything goes okay,”Conan protested. “Maybe I should just stay home-”

“Go to class, Cone,”Jason said, cutting him off. “Everything will be fine and you’re gonna be late if you don’t get to class.”

“But-” Conan protested.

“No, nope,”Jason shook his head.”I’ll walk you to class-”

“Fine, I’m going,”Conan groaned dramatically.

“See you after school, kiddo,”Jason called. Conan pouted exaggeratedly, and walked back to the front doors. On his way, the kid turned to look at Jason with big puppy dog eyes, each time Jason waving him forward encouragingly. Conan heaved the biggest sigh when he’d gotten to the doors, and pushed them open.

Jason watched as his kid disappeared through the doors. A semblance of a smile on his face. He hoped Conan had fun with his friends, but he knew he’d miss him terribly. But, like usual, he had a job to do. 

After Dick’s advice the night before, Jason had started up a program he’d picked up to try to scour social media for any clues for Tim’s whereabouts. It was slow going, but he hoped after Red Hood had apprehended the killer the program would have more results. 

As of now, he had to get home to don the Red Hood outfit and pay Gary Newson a visit. He’d get back to the Robin case as soon as he got back home, and maybe, he’d tell Batman if he’d found anything.

“He was Snippy’s previous owner,”Mitchell whispered. 

“Why are we whispering?” George whispered back. Tim rolled his eyes. 

“It’s just Mr.Sturges,”Amy said, albeit a bit quieter than her normal voice. “He was the second grade teacher and Snippy was his class’s pet.”

“You think he’s sad Snippy’s gone?” George frowned. 

“Wasn’t he gonna give Snippy to Ms. Mouri?” Mitchell thought aloud. 

“Sometimes teachers don’t get to choose when they get class pets,”Tim offered. He looked over at Mr. Sturges, who seemed happy to be on break for once. He was looking at his phone while at his desk. 

“Well, lets go say hi!”Amy exclaimed, skipping forwards. 

“Wait, Amy!” George and Mitchell exclaimed, running after her. Tim heaved a sigh, but followed at a leisurely pace. 

“-you have any pictures of Snippy?” Amy was asking. The man seemed surprised, but happy enough to bring up some pictures on his phone. 

Tim observed from behind the three kids, looking at pictures of a medium sized corn snake. A lot of pictures. So many pictures of snakes, Tim was kind of worried about this man’s well-being.

“Snippy loves mice, that’s his favorite snack,”Mr. Sturges was saying, and the three kids cooed at another picture. “I even learned how to crochet and made him this little hat,”He said, flipping to another picture of a tiny party hat on the snake’s head. Tim had to admit it was pretty cute. 

“Are you gonna get another snake to replace Snippy?” Mitchell asked. Tim kept an ear on their conversation while he looked around the office. One picture of Snippy on the desk, a calendar filled with notes, and a few other knick-knacks. 

Mr. Sturges answered with a sad smile,”Ah, no. I don’t think I’ll have another class pet. Snippy was enough for me.”

“Do you like Ms. Mouri’s turtle too?”George asked,”Her name is Berta.”

A slight frown overtook Mr. Sturges’ face for a moment before he smiled,”Turtles are good class pets, but I still prefer snakes,”He said. 

The kids thanked him after that, making their way back to the playground for recess, considering they’d snuck back inside to question the man. “I don’t think he did anything to hurt Snippy,”Any said.”He seemed really nice, actually.”

“Maybe Snippy just escaped,”Mitchell shrugged. 

“He didn’t,”Tim said, walking over to sit on the swings. “What?!” The kid exclaimed, crowding around Tim in a way that made him want to take a few steps back. 

“Conan, what do you mean?” George asked. “He didn’t escape?”

“It wasn’t aliens either,”Tim said. “Did you notice how Mr. Sturges always talked about Snippy in present tense?”

“Presents?” George repeated, and Mitchell nudged him. 

“He said Snippy loves mice, not Snippy loved mice,”Tim clarified, swinging his feet idly. “And he had a lot of photos of Snippy, too many to not be recent. And judging by the notes on his calendar, he only learned crochet at the beginning of this month. Which means he couldn’t have made Snippy a hat.”

“Unless he took Snippy!” Mitchell exclaimed. 

“Exactly,”Tim nodded. 

“We gotta tell people! The teachers!”George bounced, getting ready to leave,”He stole Snippy!”

“Not exactly,”Tim hedged. 

“What?!” The three exclaimed together, looking back to Conan. 

“You see, Mr. Sturges had a pet snake, Snippy,”Tim started. “He loved his snake a lot so he asked the school to make him a class pet. And they did, for a few years, but then the school heard Ms. Mouri asking about having a class pet for her first graders.”

“So the school was gonna give Mr. Sturges’ snake to Ms. Mouri!” Amy gasped. 

“Right, so Mr. Sturges likely staged Snippy going missing so he could keep him,”Tim finished. “He didn’t do it to be mean, he just wanted to keep his pet.”

“Oh,”George wilted. “I don’t think we should tell anyone,”Mitchell piped up. “He seemed happy with Snippy.”

“Yeah, and it wasn’t Ms.Mouri’s fault either, since she just wanted a class pet of her own,”Amy speculated,”I don’t think she would have known the school would take Snippy away from Mr. Sturges.”

“Well what do we do now?” George pouted, crossing his arms.

“What do you mean?” Tim asked, tilting his head. 

“The Detective Boys’ first case closed and we can’t even tell anyone about it!”George said, and the others frowned. 

“Aha! We’ll just have to solve another case!”Amy exclaimed. The other two crowded around, excited and shouting out mysteries around the school. Tim sat back on the swing with a small smile. Even if school was boring and chaotic, he figured he could at least do something useful while he was here. Why not solve some mysteries?

Jason sighed, wiping blood off his knife. Gary Newson, while an expert at blitz-attacking young women, was not prepared for a fight against Jason. Gary had folded like a wet paper bag when Jason brought out a single handgun. It hadn’t taken much convincing for him to spill everything he’d done. 

Four girls from Gotham University dead, all because of some guys mommy issues, and Jason wasn’t remorseful in the slightest over shooting the bastard in both kneecaps. Hopefully, he wouldn’t ever walk again, much less kill anyone else. The man would spend the rest of his life in jail though, so Jason wasn’t too worried about letting him back on the streets. 

Driving home, Jason couldn’t help but think about Robin. The program he had running on his systems at home should have collected any online social media images collected from the areas Timothy could have disappeared from. Jason was hoping to find some clues to where Tim went, or who might’ve taken him. 

Conan’s school lets out in a few hours, so Jason didn’t see an issue with opening the image searching program the minute he got home. It took him nearly two hours to scope through each individual image for any sign of Drake. Which led him to 3 images out of 238. 

The first image was of some drunk girls leaving a bar, with Timothy Drake passing by in the background. From the timestamp, it was the first image captured and the closest to Stephanie Brown’s house. Jason marked the location on the map, noting Tim’s appearance and direction. Jason figured he was headed home based on direction alone. 

The second image was of a couple and their new apartment, where Tim could be seen from outside the window. The kid seemed to be pressed against a building, facing around the corner. Jason could see the change in route, and wondered if something might’ve caught Tim’s attention. 

Marking that location on the map, Jason continued to the last photo. This photo didn’t have Tim in it, but instead one other figure Jason had become familiar with over the past month. It was a photo of someone’s cat on a balcony, and far down on the street was one familiar figure dressed in black and heading in the direction Tim had gone off course in. In Vodka’s hands was a familiar looking red case. 

Jason heaved a breath, thinking over the case. So Tim was on his way home when he noticed something. Minutes later, Vodka comes up from behind him and Tim is never seen again. It makes Jason want to grind his teeth, but he knows that he can’t do much with this information. Conan and himself have been keeping strict tabs on the Black organization, and so far they’d had no luck in tracking them down. 

With Vodka’s presence, things just got more complicated, but Jason couldn’t help the flare of hope in his chest, because they were one step closer to finding Robin. Jason rubbed the bridge of his nose, looking at the clock. Taking a breath, he sent in the images and his notes on the Black Organization to Batman. Marking Tim’s last known location on the map, he sent Bruce a note to check out the area for clues. 

It was all he could do at the moment, but every second counted. Jason was trusting Bruce to follow the trail while Jason picked up Conan from school. Hopefully the bat had something useful by the time Red Hood left for patrol. 

“And Mr. Sturges didn’t want to let go of his best friend, so he took him home and staged an escape,”Conan said, stirring the pot of sauce in front of him. 

Jason smiled softly at the explanation. He hadn’t thought the Detective boys would actually solve the case, but it seemed he’d underestimated Conan and his friends. “You didn’t tell anyone?”

“No,”Conan wrinkled his nose. “Snippy was his snake, it was rude of the school to try and give him away. He should keep him.”

“That’s nice of you guys,”Jason hummed. “What case are you investigating next?”

“I don’t know yet,”Conan sighed. “They’re kind of upset they weren’t able to tell anyone about Snippy, but Amy’s mom got her some sticker paper and she made us all matching stickers.”

“Oh?” Jason asked, giving Conan a look in between chopping vegetables. “Can I see it?”

Conan sighed. “I guess. I put it on my notebook,”He said, jumping down off the stepstool and ran to the living room to grab his backpack. Jason listened for him, hearing footsteps into the living room before he paused. 

“Uhhh, Batmans here!” Conan yelled from the living room, and Jason held back a sigh. Conan’s footsteps came streaming back into the kitchen and Jason wasn’t surprised to see the bat appearing in the doorway behind him. 

“Alright, don’t panic,”Jason said, putting the sauce on low heat. He lifted Conan up to the step stool, ignoring the looming behind him. “Watch the sauce, and don’t eat any of the noodles while I’m gone.”

“Um, what do I do when-”Conan panicked a bit, not having been prepared to take over the cooking. Jason was sure the kid couldn’t mess up the sauce any way, and he’d been teaching him how to cook over the last month.

“In five minutes stir in one third cup of cream and as much cheese as you want,”Jason said, ruffling his hair. He didn’t mention that there was a limited amount of cheese set aside on the counter, so even if Conan wanted to over cheese it, he wouldn’t. 

“kay,”Conan said determinedly, stirring the sauce once again. 

With that, Jason took one more look at his kid before facing his shadow. “Living room, now,”Jason grunted, pointing with his finger until the man in the full Batman suit turned around. “Sit,”Jason directed, too busy managing his anger and exasperation to play into B’s inability to talk to people like a normal person. 

“Why are you here?” Jason asked directly. 

There was a pause before Jason heard an answer. “The case,”Bruce said, haltingly. Jason was annoyed that he used his gravely Batman voice. 

“I meant what are you doing here, in my apartment,”Jason clarified. “I told you before that we would be working on the Robin case, and I sent you the information. None of which meant you should break into my apartment in full gear and scare my son.”

“It was urgent,”Bruce cut in, but Jason wasn’t done.

“No, this was our deal. I’m not at your beck and call anymore, if you want to work with me, you have to follow my rules,”Jason reminded. “One of those rules was that you stay away from my son. So why did you think it would be a good idea to come here?”

Batman was silent for a moment, and Jason had officially lost patience with the man. He didn’t need to explain this to Bruce again, especially not while his son was unsupervised in the kitchen. He could contact him later, when Red Hood went out on patrol, like they had been communicating.

“Just get out,”Jason said, shaking his head. “Call Dick, and don’t ever do this again.”

“Jason,”Bruce grumbled, but Jason put a hand up to stop him. 

“Out. Now,”Jason directed, pointing to the open window. He couldn’t help but feel relief when the bat finally listened to him and slunk out the window. Jason was surprised that he didn’t feel any sort of vindictiveness at the action. He only felt tired and relieved, and frustrated at Bruce’s actions. He resolved to tell Dick about it later and sick the man on B about it. 

“Jay?” Conan called from the kitchen. Huffing a smile, Jason made his way into the kitchen, hoping nothing was on fire. He sent a quick text to Dick before stepping foot into the kitchen, smelling the garlic permeating the air.

“I put the cream in, and the cheese,”Conan said, “But I ate some of the cheese,”He confessed, and Jason ruffled his hair. 

“That’s alright, we got more in the fridge,”Jason said. He picked up the chopped vegetables to add to the sauce, pretending to ignore Conan’s offended stare. All thoughts of Batman left as he directed Conan through the recipe, joking with his son about vegetables.

Meanwhile, Dick was gearing up to lecture Bruce about valuing personal space and boundaries over casework.

Chapter 17 

[ladylauviah-blog]

Bachelor Family

1st generation: Jocasta & Simis - their life was very, very, VERY boring. They were broke for some time and lived in a tiny apartment. Jocasta quickly became pregnant and bore twin boys - Michael and Jordan. Mike was blond and Jordan was red. Only one thing was interesting - Jocasta had an accident while giving birth and Simis had to plead with the Reaper. He succeded. Even with such traumatic experience, Jocasta wanted a baby girl, so she and Simis tried for another baby. Lets just say that Jocasta was well taken care of during her second pregnancy and it went with no issues - she delivered healthy baby girl, whom was named Bella. Jocasta was making many friends and Simis had a fair share of affairs - Jocasta never knew. But Bella did and openly despised her father. Neverthless, Simis's and Jocasta's marriage endured everything and they both peacefully died of old age, surrounded by family - in their golden years, they were living with Michael and his family.

2nd generation: Michael - his life for most of the time was boring as f-. He graduated college and married his girlfriend - Georgia Goodie (Georgia Newson - she, as well as her all siblings, was adopted by Faith and Herb Goodie). Both very succesful in life, they managed so good, they were able to afford a really big house - very good for growing family, as few years after marriage, Georia gave birth to twins - Beatrice and Nathaniel. Unfortunately, life decided to prank them (lol) and Georgia died in a huge fire (not staged, a frikkin accident) which almost killed every other family member. Twins were kids at the time. Sad. Very sad. Widower Mike lived alone for some time, his parents were helping him with raising his kids. He met, by total accident, Dina Caliente and things really went good for them. They married and had baby boy, Dylan.

Jordan - a family sim with completely NO luck in love. He married Mamie Ruggbyrne (divorced woman like twice his age), but they didn't have any children. Jordan had a fling with Carioca Caliente (now Goodie) but nothing happened after that. Carioca married August and Jordan never admitted cheating to Mamie (who was divorced previously because Bruno constantly cheated on her). Anyway Mamie died finally of old age and for his old age, Jordan married a widow - Tina Al Mahmoud (nee Traveller). Now they are living with Mike, Dina and Dylan in their huge house.

Bella - she despised her father and his red genes, so from teenhood she dyed her hair black (as she, unfortunately was a redhead too), married Mortimer Goth and has had three of his kids - Cassandra, Alexander and Mathilde. During Mathilde's birth there were complications and Bella died young and beautiful, never got the chance to meet her grandchildren.

3rd generation: Michaels kids:

Nathaniel - nothing too fancy. Became a movie director, married beautiful woman (Nancy - townie) and had humble beginnings (as he wasn't too fond of his fathers money). Nancy became pregnant on their wedding night and times were rough when little Norvill was born. But they managed. When Norvill reached teenhood, they tried for another baby, but failed. This and job loss by Nancy were too much and Nancy had a mental breakdown - this in turn got her admitted to Mental Asylum.

Beatrice - Bea married Vin Caliente (for anyone who might not remember - Dina Caliente's youngest brother) and bore two boys - Ciro and Noa. Except for that, her life is kinda boring. For a few years they lived with Adhir Al Mahmoud (Vin's uncle - Nighat Caliente's twin brother), but he recently died peacefully.

Dylan - only kid that Mike had with Dina. He is a redhead with green skin and currectly is looking for a love. Dina, as a mayor, has very, very high expectations of him. For now, he looks for perfect candidate.

Bella's kids - Goth Family.

4th generation: Norvill (Nathaniel and Nancy) - still a teen, had a older girlfriend, fortune sim who will go to college in about a round.

Ciro and Noa (Beatrice and Vin) - nothing much to say, Ciro is a teen and has a crush on Laura Grunt (who is Chip Grunt's younger sister and Buzz Grunt's aunt) and Noa still a kid.

Tina, Jordan, Michael, Dylan and Dina.

[cyarskj1899]

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Who Is Jamea Jonae Harris? Young Mother Died In Darius Miles Shooting ‘Because She Wouldn’t Talk To Him’

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Jamea Jonae Harris | Source: Facebook

The Black woman killed in Alabama over the weekend in a shooting linked to a college basketball player is being remembered as a loving mother who doted on her young son and prioritized her family.

Jamea Jonae Harris, 23, died after two men, including the now-former University of Alabama men’s basketball team player Darius Miles, allegedly shot her for refusing their advances early Sunday morning in Tuscaloosa.

Harris’ family spoke with local media and made it clear that her 5-year-old son meant everything to her.

“She was a beautiful young woman who loved her family and most of all her 5-year-old son Kaine,’’ DeCarla Cotton told AL.com. “She was just trying to enjoy her weekend with her cousin that attends the University of Alabama and her boyfriend.”

AL.com also pointed to a Facebook post from Cotton that seemed to suggest that the shooting had to do with rebuffed advances: “Took my baby’s life because she wouldn’t talk to him.”

It wasn’t clear if she was referring to Miles, 21, or Michael Lynn Davis, 20, both of whom have been charged with capital murder for the shooting. Cotton’s Facebook post showed photos of both suspects.

Source: Facebook/DeCarla Cotton

Harris’ cousin, Kennedi Henderson, described Harris as a uniting factor in the family.

“She was a humble soul, and she was always a happy soul. We literally grew up together,” Henderson told AL.com. “She kept the cousins together and pushed us to be the best us. She was the best little cousin I can ask for, honestly.”

Henderson added: “The family and I are just in disbelief that something like this has happened to her. We just ask for prayers at this time.”

Harris’ aunt, Tracey Smith, emphasized how much of a loss this would be for Harris’ son.

“My niece was a smart and beautiful young lady. Whom had a bright future ahead of her and is loved by so many,” Smith told ABC 33/40. “She leaves behind one son Kaine, the love and bond between the two was unimaginable. Her son was her world.”

Darius Miles | Source: Tuscaloosa County Jail

What happened?

The shooting took place close to the campus of the University of Alabama, where Darius Miles — one of the two suspects — played on the men’s basketball team. As of Tuesday morning, Miles’ name had been removed from the team roster on the university’s athletics website.

CNN reported that Harris’ mother said her daughter and her daughter’s boyfriend drove from Birmingham to Tuscaloosa to visit Harris’ cousin, who attends the University of Alabama. When they went out to eat, a man tried to flirt with Harris.

Michael Lynn Davis | Source: Tuscaloosa County Jail

From CNN:

“He was advancing on her and she declined his attention. He refused to go away,” Cotton told CNN. “While they were attempting to leave, one gentleman walked up to the car and started shooting.”

Harris’ boyfriend shot back and hit one of the suspects, Cotton said. The suspect later went to a local hospital, which helped connect him to the shooting, she added. Investigators have said one of the suspects was hit by the returning gunfire and sustained a non-life-threatening wound.

Miles and Davis face life in prison if convicted.

SEE ALSO:

Illinois EMTs Charged With Murdering Black Man They Strapped Face-Down On Gurney

Video Shows Alleged Marine Beaten By Black Woman He Attacked In Hotel

White People Who Committed Heinous Crimes And Didn’t Go To Prison

13 photos

RELATED TAGSALABAMADARIUS MILESFEMICIDEJAMEA JONAE HARRIS

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Women are too emotional my behind!

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Australia quotes

Australia quotes Australia quotes. Aphorisms. ideas, thoughts on Australia and Australian people. Quotations on Australian culture, traditions and history by famous authors, writers and artists. In Australia, not reading poetry is the national pastime. Phyllis McGinley In Australia, they set up a special fund to kick films off. It was quite an enlightened sort of move. You could go to this government bureau with scripts and and get finance for films. Bruce Beresford My mother used to say that there are no strangers, only friends you haven't met yet. She's now in a maximum security twilight home in Australia. Dame Edna Everage In Japan, Australia, and England there is such a strong youth culture. Marc Newson In particular, Australia, because of its ancient geography, soil profile and distinctive weather patterns, is more adversely affected by climate variability than some other continents. Peter Garrett In the early 1930s, flying from England to Australia was the longest flight in the world. It was considered extremely dangerous and hazardous, pushing pilots to the limits of mechanical skills and human endurance. Aviation was young. Mary Garden It doesn't really seem any different anywhere. I'd say it seems like we're biggest in Australia. It's just that we've always been this underground band and for some reason in the last month has been starting to go overground. Jon Crosby It feels like it's just starting in America and the UK. It's great to have a loyal fanbase in Australia and New Zealand. People in America say how polished our band are, but that didn't happen overnight; that came from doing all this touring back home. Kimbra It is a matter of public shame that while we have now commemorated our hundredth anniversary, not one in every ten children attending Public schools throughout the colonies is acquainted with a single historical fact about Australia. Henry Lawson It so happened that I was on a German sailing vessel on the way to Australia when the ship was captured, and on the high seas I was made prisoner by the French. Fritz Sauckel It's not a country of articulate people, sophisticated people. There's too little subtlety. Men and women don't enjoy each other very much in Australia. I don't find very many men sexy in Australia. Of course, I'm married and out of it, but still. Judy Davis Italy is definitely where I feel most at home, or alternatively, living in total wilderness, in the bush in Australia. Noah Taylor Leaving Australia was the hardest thing I have ever done. Barry Gibb Mmm, well that whole thing about having to look tough has never left Australia. Robert Forster Most Indians go into education. Their parents just push them into education like parents in Australia push them into sports. Mahesh Bhupathi My father died in 1930, but if you told him or anybody almost in that time that you'd be able to sit back in England and watch a cricket game in Australia, they'd have you put in the loony bin. Desmond Llewelyn My kids started school, so having a strong base in Melbourne has been a key priority. I'm not daunted by the travel. People say, 'It's so far to Australia,' and I say, 'You get on the plane, you eat well, you sleep, you wake up - and you're there.' Geoffrey Rush My parents and my grandfather on my mom's side would travel the earth. They went to Australia and China, and they went to probably every soccer game I ever played. Brandi Chastain My point is this, the Government made this decision to ban totally beef exports into Indonesia, even to compliant abattoirs and this will have enormous consequences for the beef cattle industry across Australia. Julie Bishop

Quotes about Australia My point was that the war was intrinsically wrong, and as a result of our participation we haven't improved Australia's security but created a greater danger at home and abroad. Bob Hawke National film industries tend to move in cycles. In Australia right now, we're on a high, a feeling of potential, which as yet shows no sign of flagging. But the word "industry" is misleading. A small national cinema has no industry in the Hollywood sense. Peter Weir New Zealanders who emigrate to Australia raise the IQ of both countries. Robert Muldoon Obviously all of us have thought about Vietnam, particularly in my generation in Australia that were part of conscription and fought there. Our friends came back, forever changed. So there were a lot of questions. Phillip Noyce To live in Australia permanently is rather like going to a party and dancing all night with one's mother. Barry Humphries To win in Australia, for me, has to be the ultimate success because the Aussies live for sport. Ian Botham Tobacco companies are legally operating entities in Australia. If the Government thinks that they should not make donations to political parties, well then they should ban them operating as legally structured entities in Australia. Julie Bishop Travelling is definitely something that your average 17-year-old doesn't get to do. One week we're in Japan, one week we're in Australia, one week we're back home going to football games. Solange Knowles Way of life in Australia focuses more on the outdoors. Thomas Muster We absolutely believed in Heaven and Hell, Purgatory, and even Limbo. I mean, they were actually closer to us than Australia or Canada, that they were real places. John McGahern We don't have any sailors in Australia, we have rowers. Ben Lexcen We had to leave Australia to become international stars. Barry Gibb We moved to Australia for two years though and that was a little bit tough trying to fit in. Kelly Preston We must have as clear a picture as we can of the Australia that we want to achieve at the end of that time. Lionel K. Murphy We were a Western civilisation, an English speaking civilisation, both NZ and Australia, and we had all these influences coming from both Great Britain and America to us; sending us their culture in the shape and form of movies and television. Richard O'Brien Well they're very, very genuine concerns at present as to the status of the 800 people who are to be sent by Australia to Malaysia. There's concern about the status of asylum seekers in Malaysia generally, but there's concern about the status of the 800 to be sent. Julie Bishop Well, I'm not going to go into what the letter says, because the police are looking at that. But as you say it's in Bahasa. But of course that's not to suggest that the letter came from outside of Australia. It came from in Australia. It came from Victoria. Alexander Downer Well, we know that people in Australia love the idea of both Impulse and Virgin Blue getting up and adding a bit of competition, and it's fun to be able to deliver it. Richard Branson When I left school I went on trip around the world - I only got as far as Australia, but like a bloody fool I cut it short because of a girl. It's probably one of my big regrets in life. Ben Nicholson When I left school I went to Australia for a year and worked in the drama department of a school in Perth. James D'arcy When I was 24 I went to Nigeria and it was such a culture shock, growing up in Australia and suddenly being the only white man in this unit full of black men. Bruce Beresford When I was rising eighteen I persuaded my parents to let me return to Australia and at least see whether I could adapt myself to life on the land before going up to Cambridge. Patrick White Whereas there's a wealth of galleries in Australia, everyone's got a gallery in Australia or wants your work. Because the art scene is smaller in Indonesia, there's not so much competition. Andrew Jack Who says Australia offers not a home for every poor Englishman, or any other countryman that finds his way to our shores? And what sort of thanks do we get for it? Henry Lawson With just about every player in Australia, his whole goal and ambition is to play for Australia. That's why they're playing first class cricket. It's just a different attitude. Shane Warne

Australian quotations Yeah, I think it's an absolute disaster that Australia, the government, allowed kangaroo culling. Steve Irwin You can be tops in Australia and be unheard of everywhere else. Barry Gibb A collection of huts surrounded by a barbed wire fence, and in the huts lived 500 of the original inhabitants of our area. And so it went with many country towns around Australia. Phillip Noyce All for Australia and the Empire. Joseph Lyons Americans are the most generous country on the planet. I've worked in Europe, I've worked in Australia. There is no where else where you get absolutely no attitude for being a foreigner. If you do your job well, they embrace you. Hugh Jackman And also it was a process of, we lifted weights as well, in an effort to train my body to then be able to lift heavier weights when I got in Australia. So that was the first couple of months. Brandon Routh And I liked pluralist Australia. I got a taste for pluralist Australia. I like, I like Australians and I can't believe that they're going to go to hell because they tell a good dirty joke, you know. Thomas Keneally And living in Australia I am relatively well off. Peter Garrett And the reason for that I think is that in Australia our films don't get the exposure, so the process is foremost. But anyway, I love being part of the team and hate being stuck in a corner somewhere. Jacqueline McKenzie And then once in Australia, I really hit the weights hard. Brandon Routh And where I grew up in Australia, surfing was a part of culture. Marc Newson Another time, we had three days off in Australia, so we went out of our way to fly to Ayres Rock. Phil Collins As we grew to love South Australia, we felt that we were in an expanding society, still feeling the bond to the motherland, but eager to develop a perfect society, in the land of our adoption. Catherine Helen Spence At 15 I auditioned for 42nd Street in Australia. Dein Perry was in that show. I actually got the job but I couldn't do it because I was only 15. Legally I needed to have another 15-year-old to cover consecutive nights. Adam Garcia At the end of my trial, I was rather hoping the judge would send me to Australia for the rest of my life. Jeffrey Archer Australia and Canada were settled by adventurers, they had to break new ground. I think that is indelibly etched on our cultural spirit. Tom Cochrane Australia as a nation, as a set of cities and some regional centres, that project died a death and we didn't get it up, but I still think there's merit in that. Susan Oliver Australia has an increasingly multicultural society. Julie Bishop Australia integrated the - brought on the ships and unleashed in the society the dogs of sectarianism, which had existed in other places - in Glasgow, in Liverpool and of course in Ireland, north and south. Thomas Keneally Australia is a huge rest home, where no unwelcome news is ever wafted on to the pages of the worst newspapers in the world. Germaine Greer Australia is about as far away as you can get. I like that. Andre Benjamin Australia is already a world leader in dementia research, treatment and care. Julie Bishop Australia is properly speaking an island, but it is so much larger than every other island on the face of the globe, that it is classed as a continent in order to convey to the mind a just idea of its magnitude. Charles Sturt Australia is so cool that it's hard to even know where to start describing it. The beaches are beautiful; so is the weather. Not too crowded. Great food, great music, really nice people. It must be a lot like Los Angeles was many years ago. Mary-Kate Olsen Australia is the most isolated continent. Jared Diamond Australia was great. I would advise anybody to go there. In fact, if you couldn't live here, Australia would be the place to live. It's the most Americanized country that I've ever seen in the world. Jerry Lawler Because in Australia there really isn't a lot to do. There aren't a lot of opportunities. Radha Mitchell But although Australia was also involved in the Vietnam conflict, I can remember my dad telling us that if we were in Australia, we wouldn't be drafted until we were 20. Mel Gibson But in practice Australia - the pluralism of Australia - sorry the sectarianism to an extent stopped at the time you took your uniform off after coming home from school. Thomas Keneally

Australia culture and history On the same line of reasoning, if Australians were to be Australians, or rather if Australians were as separate from any other nation as Australia from any other land, there would be no jealousy between them on England's account. Henry Lawson Once again our cricketers have flattered to deceive in Australia. Ted Dexter Part of my plan was not only to introduce all useful animals that I possibly could into this part of Australia, but also the most valuable plants of every description. George Grey People forget that a huge proportion of our jobs still depend on agricultural production in Australia so of course there are exports. That's easily overlooked. John Anderson Probably my mother's life was prolonged beyond that of a long-lived family by her coming to Australia in middle life; and if I ever had any tendency to consumption, the climate must have helped me. Catherine Helen Spence Residuals from Australia, from the Mission Magic show, saved my butt. So there is a reason for everything. Rick Springfield She told fortunes for a living. It's a wacky book and was great fun to write. It is very much a look at what life was like for women in Australia in the 1960's. Colleen McCullough Since I've been in Playboy myself in Australia, I love it, and I think it's really empowering and positive towards women, which is not a view that many women hold. Dannii Minogue So far, and today, everything felt really great. Now I am good to get on the plane and fly to Australia. Kim Clijsters So nonetheless given the importance that was placed on sport in Australia, I wanted to be part of that scene, particularly since I had felt very strongly in my early schooling being marginalised even in the Catholic school. Thomas Keneally Some books claim I have already clocked up a century of Grands Prix, but let me put the record straight. Australia will be my 100th start, and I aim to mark the milestone with a cracking performance. It could even be celebrated with a victory. Damon Hill South Australia has transformed. There has been a range of changes to our economy over the past 10 years in which we have genuinely set ourselves up for the future. I think we have to start behaving like that's real and project a quiet confidence in the future of our state. Jay Weatherill South Australia was the first community to give the secret ballot for political elections. Catherine Helen Spence Tender Mercies is a very low-budget film, but it was a huge budget compared to anything I had done in Australia. My fee for Tender Mercies was something like five times all of my Australian films combined. Bruce Beresford Terrorists oppose nations such as the United States and Australia not because of what we have done but because of who we are and because of the values that we hold in common. John Howard The Labour Party of today has fits of horrors of the very thought of somebody like me might saying that they bought in white Australia. But I believe they did. Colleen McCullough The markets where we've got real good presence are the older, more mature markets like Australia, and Western Europe - where we've only got 6,000 stores, compared to the US with 13,000. Jim Cantalupo The marshalling of those resources in order to obtain the maximum war effort for Australia, and a maximum degree of help and cooperation for Great Britain and the sister Dominions, is the primary objective of the new Department. Harold Edward Holt The Menzies Government, by its participation in the plans for the development of other nations, can see the virtue of planning for them but apparently cannot see the virtue of a plan for Australia. Lionel K. Murphy The Open Skies issue is something that's ongoing and we understand that there are issues in Australia that need to be sorted out. It's something that I think over time there's an opportunity for us and we'll work on that in a progressive way. Jenny Shipley The people of Australia would be staggered to learn that Australia has no national development plan. Lionel K. Murphy The strongest initiative that government can take to ensure Australia is prepared for population ageing, is to maintain a strong economy, and a secure nation. Julie Bishop The wickets I have played on for my whole career, most of them have been to suit fast bowlers in Australia. Shane Warne Then Mission Impossible brought me to Australia and that was great because I fell in love. Jane Badler There are better alternatives... Australia should be exporting its solar technology, not its uranium. Bob Brown There has always been quite a strong black and white art tradition in Australia, with quite a large contingent of cartoonists, given the size of the population. Pat Oliphant There's a lot of exaggerated talk about CAFTA, but it's actually a fairly routine trade agreement. Although it involves fairly small nations, they're still more important trade partners than places like Australia or many other larger nations. Ernest Istook This book that I just wrote is going to be coming out very soon to Australia. Ronald Biggs Read the full article

[emmelfish]

Or, y’know, how bout we just solve all the Newsons’ problems in one fell swoop and have the Oldies adopt them? I’m just way too soft to have teens struggling to choose between school and risking their toddler siblings being taken away by social workers, or trying to scrape together the money to hire a nanny; Coral and Herb are retired and have all the time in the world (well, not ALL the time, they’re elders after all) thus the teens can hit the books and live a relatively normal life. 

Waaaahhhh I just want everybody in my uberhood to be happy – well, everybody except Albany Capp of course. And the Contrary parents. And General Buzz. And my resident dog affection rejecters, Kaylynn and Regan. And... yeah you get the picture.

[brokenstrangetown]

Reflections

This is less emotional than the decision to cease play in Drama Acres or to abandon the Genderswapped Uberhood after completing the Conquering Nose, but I wouldn’t have been playing and documenting had I not been attached to this neighborhood. So what will I miss most?

I have some couples I’m exceedingly fond of, which are unlikely to repeat in later iterations and even if they did, wouldn’t be the same. Vidcund/Monica and Lola/Gunnar in particular are huge ships that were so serendipitous that I can’t see attempting them again. Vidcund and Monica were a perfect storm of prickly responsibility takers and as for Lola and Gunnar - ! Gunnar all tenderness and repeatedly choosing to interact with her over her triple-bolt sister, obsessively work-driven, self-effacing Lola relaxing into pillowfights and talking about books - I heard them talking to each other as clearly as I ever used to hear Ernest and Sage Ann, and that’s the gold standard.

The two up-and-coming relationships I mourn the most are Anthea/Euclid and Kriemhild/Tycho. I love it when they pair themselves up. Quite apart from Euclid and Tycho being the children of my favorite, Vidcund, both these relationships had a lot of spontaneity and the self-propelling energy of couples made up of equally strong personalities that complement each other. Kriemhild would dominate most partners to the point of annihilation; but not Tycho, who was all set to be the guy who didn’t see all the girls hurling themselves at his head because his eyes were already full of the one for him. Anthea and Euclid have a more domestic potential, the domesticity of hard work and shared goals. He had a City Planner LTW; she was yet another Hand of Poseidon wannabe - what would Research Beach have ultimately become under their influence?

Good lord, Research Beach! It was a great idea and I really wanted to see it grow past the single apartment and two community lots, but such is life.

I had been looking forward to moving everyone into their new homes. Delilah was supposed to propose to Buck during the Singles round and then he would have moved into the smallest trailer in the Manufactured Homes and married her into it on Monday. Jill and Sharla wouldn’t have had many rounds to be roommates in before Gallagher and Gabriella graduated and moved in, but then they’d be waiting for Juan to graduate, at which time Sharla would abruptly be one person too many - but Isaiah would be graduated by then. Ripp, Ophelia, and Creon would move into the third trailer and start the second kid there. It would’ve been nice to see how that little community played out. I had some really cute houses set up for Kristen and Lyla (no General, no military housing!), David and Tank and Isherwood, Gavin and Tina and Gary, and the Love family to move into, but I’ll never play them now.

Kelly was supposed to move into the fourth apartment in Tech Center Flats; but would she and Meredith really have married, and would it have worked, with Kendall so  fixated on Meredith? I’ll never know, now. And would Elroy Holloway and Emily’s baby (Thomasina? Emil? Lee?) have had time to interact enough to be friends before they finally moved into single-family residences?

Would Will Wrightley, Creon Nigmos, and Pippin Williamson have made a posse? Would I have been able to play Creon and Pippin as nonbinary, as they were shaping up in my head? Would Mitchie and Edward have worked out? Would Jared ever have gotten that first kiss? What would Gary Newson and Moon Williamson and Elroy Holloway have looked like? What would Mary Gavigan’s third child and Eric and Marla’s and Emily’s firsts have been? Would I have really gone through with Nathan/Zoe and how would that have worked out? Would there ever have been fallout from Eve’s true parentage? How would the new teen cliques have formed up? Would Matthew ever have gotten his act together? Would Isaiah and Juan ever forgive each other for existing? Would the Non-Sleazy Game Shack ever have reached Level 1?

But there is no place to stop playing a sims neighborhood at which such questions do not remain. That’s the beauty of the game, isn’t it? Always some new thing to try, some storyline to resolve and three others to set up, births and deaths and birthdays and graduations and weddings counting down toward. Sooner or later, the player has to stop playing, but - like the best books - we can see how the story would proceed, how life goes on without us in some nebulous plane where the boy and his bear are still playing.

The End

[mzyraj]

The Gavigan Family!

Patriarch Nathan Gavigan, wife Mary, eldest son Isaiah, his wife Gabriella (nee Newson-Goodie), Hope, Faith, Patience, Prayer, Josiah, and granddaughter Gabby.

Mary Gavigan likes to make a show of Nathan being in charge, but some observe that it was her will to move the family to the area, and she who was the most enthused about each next pregnancy, while Nathan has followed her will and (struggled to) support the many children. And some say she’s still bitter that she fell one short of Samantha Ottomas’ local record. Not that she will ever admit such a thing, and that Nathan will never comment.

[Nathan: Fortune, topped the athletic career. 4 neat, 4 outgoing, 4 active, 7 playful, 6 nice]

[Mary: Family, wants to celebrate golden wedding anniversary. 5 neat, 3 outgoing, 7 active, 3 playful, 7 nice]

Isaiah takes after his mother, some say too much, that there can be such a thing as too doting a father versus his own father’s hard working absences. Strictness is required in the husband and father to maintain the Natural Order, elsewise...

[Family, wants to reach golden wedding anniversary. 5 neat, 5 outgoing, 3 active, 8 playful, 4 nice]

Gabriella is one of the six children generously adopted by the Goodies and raised into proper American Christianity. She can’t be flawed on fertility so far, but she does seem determined to be a working woman. Some think the lessons didn’t sink in well enough, and she should be the one at home doting on children (if doting is needed) while Isaiah should be at work.

[Fortune, wants to top oceanography career. 6 neat, 3 outgoing, 6 active, 4 playful, 6 nice]

Hope is pretty and well-meaning, but elsewise concerning. Her fashion is strange, she’s never well put-together, she’s keen to work - and in entertainment. She’s rather ‘unconventional’. Time will tell if she gains a husband to show her the right way.

[Fortune, wants to top entertainment career. 1 neat, 9 outgoing, 10 active, 3 playful, 10 nice]

Faith is slightly more traditional than her twin, but it’s said that their family’s financial situation has also made her keen to help earn, and that she once read a book about spies working to undermine Good Christian America and wants to protect her country and community. Hopefully a husband will dissuade her of the need for her personally to do such a thing, and focus on her family.

[Fortune, wants to top the intelligence career. 10 neat, 2 outgoing, 9 active, 3 playful, 10 nice]

Patience is another issue. She’s as messy as her eldest sister, but without the purity of heart of either. She also seems to aspire after her father’s sporting legacy, but some say she uses the events to flirt with athletic young men. She will need a good husband to set her straight.

[Romance, wants to top athletic career. 1 neat, 10 outgoing, 7 active, 7 playful, 2 nice]

Prayer is the middle son, and arguably the most appropriate Christian child - a hard working and ambitious young man, ready to one day support a large Christian family.

[Fortune, wants to top oceanography career. 5 neat, 8 outgoing, 4 active, 5 playful, 6 nice]

Josiah is the youngest of Nathan and Mary’s brood and one of the quieter ones, mostly known to be good at sports and not much else so far.

[7 neat, 2 outgoing, 10 active, 10 playful, 6 nice]

Little Gabby is Isaiah and Gabriella’s first child, and Nathan and Mary’s first grandchild. She certainly takes after the Gavigan side of her family, but time will tell with her coming siblings.

[5 neat, 7 outgoing, 6 active, 8 playful, 4 nice]

[sushigal007]

To the Ottomas household! Last time - David moved out, Sharla grew up, Dora died, the twins were born, one was... different-

Samantha: Pop! Oh, yes, and Samantha’s pregnant with Dora’s LTW 6th grandchild.

Samantha: Time to queue up number seven. I don’t think it works like that. Peter: We’re willing to give it a try. For science.

Greg: Bang, you’ve been repo’d! Can you wait for me to finish makeovers first? Tommy: No.

Can you wait for me to finish makeovers at least? Samantha: I HAVE BEEN PREGNANT SINCE JULY 2012! I AM DONE WAITING!

It’s a girl! Meet Stacey Ottomas!

Over to Peter. Now Peter has the fun trait combo of Evil and Kleptomanic, which means he likes to spend all his free time mugging poor Sharla. I guess now I’ll get a proper chance to see how well the pickpocket mood check works! Peter: I’m thinking a nice painting along this wall. Sharla: Yes, fine, please let me go now.

Glen: Think we’ll see Grandma Dora any time soon?

Tommy: Nope! It’s me who’s the ghost now! Greg: HAHA THAT’S HILARIOUS!

Peter: Catch me! Samantha: Of course, my sweet! I must say, of all the couples I thought would get the Evil trait, I did not expect it to be Peter and Samantha Ottomas.

Peter: Aw, that’s so sweet. Anyway, I’m gonna mug my daughter again. Sharla: Try it and I will jam this paintbrush up your nose.

Tommy and Glen brought Georgia and Garret Newson home from school.

Georgia: BLEUGH! Sharla: Kid, I’ve got five siblings too, you don’t scare me.

Greg also brought Tina Traveller home and this is officially Too Many Children.

Garret: When I grow up, I’m gonna become an astronaut! Glen: Oh cool! If you meet aliens, can you ask them how I ended up with alien eyes?

Homework party.

Greg: Mom! You’re home! +2000 Samantha: Ew, human contact. -250

Glen: Maybe I should become an astronaut too.

Peter: Baby goes in bassinet!

Nerds. Glen: A healthy interest in plumbing always comes in handy.

Samantha: A healthy interest in how to change fuses would be even more useful.

Introducing: The Amazing Floating Baby!

Peter: Baby goes in fridge. BABY DOES NOT GO IN FRIDGE. Peter: With the rest of the leftovers. NO.

Aww, that’s sweet.

In fact, for an Evil Sim, Peter does enjoy spending time with his children and not robbing them. I suppose it helps that he can’t actually mug the younger ones.

Peter: And now for some more adult bonding. Samantha: I know what bits I want bonding!

Probably not a good idea to spy on the other residents of Veronaville. Sharla: Eh, my dad could use a new victim.

Like Vivian Cho perhaps?

Peter: I’m not stupid enough to mess with the cops. Sharla: DAD! Peter: It’s all right sweetie, it not a real robbery, it goes straight back in the household funds. Now if you were to get robbed for real, it’d go like this-

Peter: -And that’s how you find the radius.

The return of The Amazing Floating Baby! Samantha: It stinks, I’m putting it back in the fridge.

Samantha: Just kidding. You’re too cute for that! Samantha: With our genetics, you’d better enjoy it while it lasts.

I decided to let Sharla do a little shopping at J’Adore Bakery, mostly to check Gilbert still owned it. Gilbert: This would probably be easier if I took my mittens off.

She wanted a swim, so I sent her to the gym where the want immediately rolled away in favour of soaking in the hot tub. Sharla: I’m never going home again. Game doesn’t work like that, sorry.

Tiny cute Glen spam.

And then it’s time for Stacey’s birthday! Samantha: Actually I’m just gonna give this to Sharla.

Not too horrifying!

The shock of growing up made her immediately shit herself, so Sharla whisked her upstairs for a bath.

Stacey: Story now. Sharla: You are aware I’m not your mom, right?

Time for an actual adult to take over.

Tiny cute Stacey spam.

You could look a little more excited about successfully potty training her. Peter: It’s the sixth one I’ve trained. It’s just not that exciting any more.

Me running to tell my housemate about this: OK, so my Sim just brought another Sim home from school, but I guess I threw out her shirt during my Big CC Clearout... Housemate: She’s topless, isn’t she? Me: ...You’re not entirely wrong!

Gardener: *snips Gabriella in half*

What’s Tommy done to piss everyone off? Glen: Interrupted cute hug time with his stupid birthday.

That’s right, it’s time for Tommy to grow up!

Tommy: I’m all grown up! And making awful fashion choices!

Samantha: I guess we’d better get that elementary school homework out of the way.

So here’s teen Tommy. I let him keep a tropical shirt, but the camo trousers had to go.

Tommy: I would like money.

Tommy: I am willing to do anything to get it.

He doesn’t have any alien summoning perks, but I guess it can’t hurt (much) to try.

Tessa: So... has your brother seen this movie? Does he know exactly what’s going to happen to him if aliens do take him?

Forgot I had this thing. And by the time I remembered, Dora’s tomatoes had all died, oops.

Sharla brought Buck Grunt home from school.

Look, I just really like the hugs.

Stacey: HUG ME, DAMMIT.

Should you be doing that? I don’t think you should be doing that. Glen: Right, like becoming a Plantsim would be the weirdest thing that’s happened to my genetics.

Oh, now Tommy’s a teen, his parental robbery immunity has worn off. Peter: A flat screen TV. Right there.

Time for Stacey’s birthday again.

Stacey: Fingers!

Samantha: Wanna roleplay? I’ll be the teacher and you can be the hot college student who needs better grades. Peter: Heck yes.

I can’t even kinkshame you because that’s canon gameplay.

Samantha: Time for your biology finals! Peter: A+ or will you be satisfied with the D? Yuck.

Let’s go look at some slightly more wholesome romance!

First kiss!

Oh, hi Dora! Dora: I’d like to make a complaint about- Sorry, can’t stop, Sharla’s going on a date.

Buck: I love a girl who can dislocate her entire arm to give me a backrub.

I hit Pause just as lightning struck and spent several seconds frantically spinning the camera until I realised what had happened.

Panic over.

Sharla: Can we get some food over here? Whoops, seems like there’s no server assigned, so no.

There were random bowls of food on the top table though, so when the date ended, Sharla grabbed a bowl of chili and started chatting nukes with Jason Greenman. Sharla: I just feel so much better now the man banned from MySpace now no longer has access to nuclear weapons as well.

Dora: YOU SOLD MY BED! Sure did! It was clogging up the living room and there’s seven people in this house.

You’re not gonna find aliens like that. Tommy: That’s fine, I changed my mind anyway.

Glen: He’s still here? Greg: He’s still here.

Buck: I’m still here.

I don’t appear to have posted any pictures of madeover Stacey, so here she is in all her cute pink outerwear, skipping.

Nanny: Is that cake!? For breakfast!? Yep, there’s been so many birthdays in the house, the only meal anyone cooked was for the (unpictured) headmaster visit.

Nanny: I must remedy this at once.

Decided to send the kids out to play. Sharla: Sounds good to me!

These two nerds decided that meant playing chess. Stacey: Wait, how am I supposed to do this without a ceiling to do the ceiling chess on?

Meanwhile, Glen plunders the community garden.

Sharla: And that’s how you stop Dad pickpocketing you.

Just hanging around.

Back home, I forgot to check Samantha’s aspiration and burned her brain out. Samantha: How do word now?

Sharla: A little eggplant juice should fix that.

Samantha: I can feel my neurons knitting back together.

The entire household has been randomly rolling wants to chat with David all week, so I invited him over to hang out.

Samantha: Also here’s ten grand for after you graduate. David: Oh wow, thanks!

David: So what are you kids into these days, toy planes? Stacey: Don’t patronise us, we’re armed with darts.

Meanwhile, I decided to treat Peter and Samantha to a date at Londoste.

Peter: Classy place.

Peter: Let’s lower the tone.

Again? Really? Samantha: Grinding ain’t gonna put another baby in me. No please no more children, there isn’t space!

Plus you might wanna take better care of the ones you already have.

Glen: I’M GONNA JUMP IN THE CANAL! DO NOT JUMP IN THE CANAL.

Glen: I like these bugs much better.

And the week ends with an ominous phone call.

UBERHOOD INDEX

[glowyjellyfish]

I am taking the sensible route of “only work on downloading stuff for a fixed amount of time each night, and then load up the game and work on the medievalizing process for a while”. Tonight, I finished the Newsons, decided uniliterally to ditch all current apartments and moved all the sims out, deleted a bit of hood decor, tested out a Gwrych March house and decided it wasn’t suitable for my purposes, built a very simple hovel according to MCC principles that I’m pretty happy with, and gave the Rileys and the Chos makeovers. Feels like progress! My plan right now is to go subhood by subhood in my planned play order, so that in theory I will be able to start playing anytime after I complete Belladonna Cove.

...I also kinda threw any concept of limiting products out the window when I started adding berry bushes and wild herbs to this hovel, as I decided Timothy Riley is gonna be the local forager/herbalist. I think as far as rules go, I am just going to forbid all tropical crops (besides olives in Veronaville), unless they are brought in by traveling merchants. It’ll be easier to remember and abide by, anyway.

Gabriella Newson

Gallagher Newson

Garret Newson

Georgia Newson

Timothy Riley; the skin made him look like an absolute baby, so I really had to add some brow creases and scruff so he looked old enough for his daughter.

Sally Riley; I tried to keep her trademark pink in the mix.

The hovel I built for them. I... clearly need trash can defaults.

Just through the door with some unfortunate blue; I did manage to re-download that set, I just haven’t put that in yet to see if that fixes it. Also, just now noticing the weird random scrap of wall on the ceiling, that needs to go!

Looking back at the kitchen. As you can see, I put in a little scruffy decor, but tried not to go overboard; the Rileys started with WAY more than peasants are supposed to have. I had them send all their extra cash to the church when the hovel was done.

The bedroom. As per the MCC rules, they just have the one double bed. Might get a little bedroll or pallet for Sally if I struggle with making them sleep in the same bed, but I don’t think that will be a problem.

Out back, showing a few scattered wild herbs, and the door to the attached but outdoor privy.

...the actual privy.

And a tree out back, with a few berry bushes and assorted herbs. I also gave them a little sale table setup, naturally, so I hope this is enough for some basic foraging at home. I definitely need to set up a community field/meadow for more wild herbs and berries, small game hunting, and a few trees, and a place for poor sims to fetch water; I mostly cleared out the little square where the trailer park lived (haven’t decided what to do with Gabriel Green’s place yet, but it will definitely be easier to remodel into medieval than any of the apartment lots), including a community lot or two, so I do feel one lot like that and one grocer is probably well earned. More, I’ll have to decide.

Vivian and Etsu Cho, living next door to the Rileys (likely not for long, Vivian and Timothy always seem to have 3 bolts although I have not tested this yet in this hood). I’m thinking she might raise chickens, or else do straight up farming.

Going from the ground up, in Belladonna Cove I still have Chastity Gere, Tara Kat, and Jessica Peterson to set up as Peasants (or in the case of Jessica Peterson, I have to mod my game to allow larger household merges and have her join the church. Yeoman families include Green, Patel, Baldwin, and Contender; Cleveland and Cordial are the Merchants; Rutherford and Weir are the obvious Gentry. ...I have far too many single lady peasants, and they will probably just have to dip into the college boy marriage pool.

...my god, it’s starting to feel playable. Who would have ever guessed that building a tiny hovel, following strict rules to do so, would be easier and faster than remodeling a poorly designed mansion to be a castle? Or building a large church with attached nun/orphan housing?

[provokingthoughtpieces]

An exploration of colorism

Colorism is the practice of discriminating against people of a darker skin tone, and it happens amongst individuals belonging to the same racial group or between racial groups.

The roots of colorism go back to colonization. Many people of Indian and African backgrounds and ethnicities wish to be lighter skinned to meet Western standards of beauty.

In India, it is taught that the fairer you are, the better you are. The fairer you are, the easier it is to find a husband. The fairer you are, the more people will like you. Yes, something as trivial as the shade of brown or black you are has a large impact on the way people are treated in Indian and African communities.

In India, advertisements for the popular skin whitening cream ‘Fair and Lovely’ depict the darker woman not getting the job or the part in a play simply because of her skin colour. The advertisements are formulated in a ‘before’ and ‘after’ manner, showing the protagonist after she has used ‘Fair and Lovely’ finally landing the job and in a glowing white light, as if having fairer skin somehow propels you to the heavens.

The message that these advertisements convey is that light is beautiful and dark skin is something to be ashamed of; something to ‘fix’ with a cream that will open doors for you in life. Go to Ghana, India, China, Malaysia, South Africa and you will see billboards and magazine and television advertisements for skin whitening creams everywhere. The area of concern of this message is that it depicts dark skin as somehow inferior and has an impact on the young girls and boys in these communities.

As someone of Indian ethnicity myself, I often heard advice from my older relatives telling me not to go out into the sun for fear of getting too dark. I saw my grandmother use Fair & Lovely and cover her face with powder to look fairer. When relatives told me that I had gotten ‘darker’ from being in the sun too much, I always used to wonder why that was something to be ashamed of; something to worry about.

Only when I grew older did I fully begin to understand that these were comments stemming from a history in colorism in India. I was fortunate enough to grow up with parents who didn’t place much importance on the colour of my skin. I was fortunate enough to have role models like Lupita Nyong’o, Viola Davis and most notably, Mindy Kaling, who taught me that dark was beautiful, and just how little the shade of your skin should impact upon your future prospects in life. However, this isn’t the case for many young boys and girls living in Indian communities today.

I came across an interview in a documentary titled “Fair? A Documentary About Skin Colour in India”, which attempted to discuss the issue of colorism in India. The interview featured a young middle-class boy with a dark complexion conveying his wishes to be ‘fair’ and ‘attractive’ like his classmates. What do his classmates do to achieve such a fair complexion? They bleach their skin.

The boy looked distressed and somber, noting the different whitening creams he has used to try and lighten his complexion. The boy looked about 10. This shocked me, because I did not think that this was an issue amongst such young men and women. However, this boy was growing up around peers who bleached their skin and denounced his naturally darker skin as ‘ugly’, just because they were conditioned to think so. When the interviewer asked the boy “What do your teachers tell you?”, the boy replied with his head down “You are dark so we don’t like you”.

“You are dark so we don’t like you”. This is the gist of the Fair & Lovely advertisements and the marketing ploy of bleaching creams that this boy’s peers use. You are dark so society will not like you. You are dark so your potential husband will not like you. You are dark so you will not land your dream job. And so on and so forth.

Some people are lucky enough to recognize and reject the standard, but most are not because of the internalized colorism that exists within these communities.

Colorism can have a damaging impact on people in African communities too. There is a stigma of colorism in the US amongst, most notably, African American girls. There used to be something known as the ‘brown paper bag’ test that was common practice in sororities in the US. This phenomenon involved young college-aged girls comparing their skin color to the color of a brown paper bag to make sure that they were not darker in color than the bag. The point of this exercise was to somehow ‘weed out’ the darker girls, who weren’t allowed membership in the sorority on that basis alone. The brown paper bag test was not only used in sororities but at many multi-racial social events from the early 20th century to the 1950s. This surprising practice shows how colorism is rampant even in our modern society, and it is terrifying to think that colorism is often internalized within a particular racial community.

As of late, a lot of discussion has surrounded the Nina Simone biopic, which casted a lighter skinned Zoe Saldana in the lead role of Nina Simone. Nina Simone was known not just for her music, but for the fact that she was a darker skinned African American who had made it in the music business, at a time that having dark skin was looked down upon. This is why Zoe Saldana’s portrayal of Nina Simone sparked a colorism debate. Many people were outraged and believed that they did not receive an authentic representation of Nina Simone in Zoe Saldana. The fault was not with Zoe Saldana herself and her ethnic background, rather it was with the casting decision itself. Kierna Mayo, editor-in-chief of Ebony Magazine, conveyed her sentiments about the casting decision on NewsOne, commenting that

“The sensitivity here is particular of Nina Simone, who herself so embodied racial pride, who herself so did not fit the Hollywood package … image that we all have grown so accustomed to that we can spit off the names Paula Patton and Zoe Saldana with ease, but we cannot find their darker-skinned peers.”

Mayo alerts to the issue in question – that the casting directors missed out on an opportunity to cast a darker and talented African American who more accurately represents Nina Simone and the image she portrayed in Hollywood.

It is important to note that colorism is present in many different communities, not only in African and Indian communities. It is present in many East Asian communities, in Middle Eastern communities, and pretty much any other community that houses people of different shades of skin. It is not important where colorism originated. It is only important that we unlearn all of the beliefs that have been indoctrinated into our minds about colorism. The world is too many shades of beautiful to think that perfection can be achieved with only one shade.

[piovascosimo]

the lovely eve, @montpahrnah tagged me, so here i am

Are you staying home from work/school? i started my quarantine involuntarily 34 days ago. i don't know exactly what happened bc i never had back problems but i managed to get two herniated discs and one is pinching my sciatic nerve and i've been in non-stop pain since then. i've only left home four times since this happened. there is the option of surgery but i'm certainly not doing that right now our president is the world's dumbest piece of shit and he is against the quarantine but most state governors (even the evil ones) have more than two brain cells and they are in favor of quarantine, so almost everyone i know is staying home.  i've always worked from home so that wouldn't be a big deal for me, i just wish this pain would leave me alone. it's hard to keep your spirits up when so much shit is happening and your body is always in pain. If you’re staying home, who is with you? it's just me

Who would be your ideal quarantine mate? i have a dog who lives in my grandpas old house, which after he died is now a shared place btw my family. i wish he was here with me, he is 300km away but as soon as i'm feeling better i am going to get him. i have 2 or 3 friends that i think would be good quarantine mates, but i'm in such a foul mood better to be alone i think

Are you a homebody? yes!

An event you were looking forward to that got canceled? my sister is living in rome, i had tks to go and stay with her there for a month in may, i feel bad for her being alone there without many friends or any family but it is what it is

What movies have you watched recently? emma (hated it), louis malle's the lovers (a nice debut from one of my fav directos), varda by agnès (a good retrospective and lovely film if you love agnès), i've rewatched withnail and i (a perfect movie, always on my top 5) and tomboy (this one hits close to my heart. céline i love you)

What shows are you watching? just finished rewatching mad men (peggy, roger, sally, betty and pete are my favourites and i wish there was less don and more of them), babylon berlin (my current favourite, everyone should watch it! it's beautifully shot, there's dance numbers, two wonderful charismatic leads, and romantic tension, and an interesting relevant political background), my brilliant friend (i already saw it on rai but i'm watching it again now that is out on hbo, long live lila and lenú), and i just finished that awful doc with the tiger people, at first it was so absurd it was distracting and fun, than it just got very depressing, it's so scary to think the united states is the richest most powerful country in the world, i don't recommend it, it made me feel miserable. 

What music are you listening to? bill callahan, bonnie prince billy, joanna newson, spiritualized, chico buarque, caetano veloso, little dragon, maria bethânia, kate bush, fabrizio de andré, tame impala What are you reading? i'm re-reading emma, but not really in a reading mood lately

What are you doing for self-care? i can't do much, trying to cook when i'm not in horrible pain, drink and complain tagging anyone who wants to do it

[crystalninjaphoenix]

Risks and Regulations

A JSE Fanfic

Hey, who remembers Clinics & Consequences? A lot of people wanted a sequel, and since I won’t have time this week to write a lot, a sequel there shall be! Because it’s a bit more low-effort than a whole new installment in my other stories XD I must warn you that there’s some uhh kind of upsetting things in this? I think it falls under self-harm. Be careful. So, here’s Schneep freaking losing his mind as told from the perspective of someone from outside the boys’ group.

Dr. Laurens hurried through the halls of the hospital, barely staying aware enough to dodge orderlies and patients in her way. She was a bit lost in her own thoughts. When she first took on the Schneeplestein case, she hadn’t expected there to be so many...difficulties. So many...incidents.

She glanced to the side, and was immediately reminded of one of them. Passing the entrance to the hospital cafeteria she could see most other patients inside eating lunch. Normally she’d be taking this time to eat in her office. But last week, Schneep had attempted to stab another patient with a plastic fork. Well, “attempted” wasn’t exactly the correct word, because that implied there was a failure to stab. Luckily, the skin hadn’t actually been broken, so no blood. But the whole thing was still enough to get Schneep banned from the cafeteria. When Laurens asked him about it later, he refused to give an explanation, other than a mumbled “Thought he was someone else.”

If Laurens was being perfectly honest with herself, there were times when she considered dropping the case altogether and handing it over to Dr. Newson, who kept hinting that she’d be happy to take it. After all, did she really want to spend so much time with the guy who 1) killed thirteen people and 2) somehow kept managing to stab people while in a secure hospital? But then she’d remember Dr. Newson’s voice that first day: “Still wanna take this?” Like Laurens couldn’t handle it. Well, Laurens wasn’t one to give up easily. And besides...she just couldn’t leave someone who needed help. And Schneeplestein, as...strange...as he was, was clearly afraid of something. Laurens was sure she could do something about that.

Laurens finally reached her destination: Room 309. There was an orderly waiting outside—Oliver, if she remembered correctly—holding a paper cup. She smiled at him. “You can wait outside, Oliver.” She tried to put a cheerful note in her voice.

He frowned. “Dr. Newson said—”

“If anything bad happens, I’ll shout.” When he didn’t look convinced, she smiled again and said, “Besides, I’m sure you want to keep texting whoever it was.”

The orderly almost dropped the cup in shock. “How did you—”

“You were a little slow putting it away. I know phones are off-limits inside the halls, but don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone.” She let the statement hang in the air. You could almost hear the “unless” that would follow.

“R-right.” Oliver backed up, handing her the paper cup. “You go on ahead, doc. Don’t forget to shout.”

“I won’t.” Laurens adjusted the items she was holding so she could accommodate the cup, then turned the room’s door handle and stepped inside, closing it behind her.

The inside was identical to all the other bedrooms at the hospital. In the corner was a bed with beige pillows and blankets that were securely tucked in under the mattress. Next to it was a nightstand with a lamp and across the room was a dresser. There were also a pair of armchairs with a small, round table in between them. Overall, Laurens thought it was a nice room to stay in. There was even a window on the far wall, though it lacked the ability to open like windows normally had. Schneep was currently standing at said window, looking out and not turning around when Laurens came in.

“Hello Schneep,” she said, once again putting a happy tone to her words. She walked over to the pair of armchairs, setting her stuff down on the table. Notebook, paper cup, pencil (she hurriedly tucked that behind her ear), and lunchbox. “How are you feeling today?”

Schneep glanced over at her, made a noncommittal noise, then continued looking out the window.

“I see.” She didn’t. “Well, I brought lunch.”

That got his attention. He turned around. “What?”

“Soup,” she explained, pulling a thermos out of the lunchbox. “It’s just potato, but I have crackers too. And, uh, cheese, and some fruit.” She laughed a little. Partly to cover up the sudden jump her nerves made. She wasn’t sure if it was caused by her natural anxiety or genuine worry or fear.

Schneep pushed away from the window and wandered over, sitting in one of the chairs. He watched her silently as she took out the rest of the food from the surprisingly large lunchbox. Then he noticed the open notebook, and tried to lean over to look at it. Laurens quickly pulled it over behind the box. “This is...new,” he said slowly.

“Well.” Laurens shrugged. “I figured that since our sessions usually fall after lunch time, that it would be a good idea to combine them. I mean, I’m not the best cook but I think I’m better than what they bring you.” She chuckled. In truth, the cafeteria food wasn’t that bad, but homemade had to be better.

“So. If I understand this correctly.” Schneep leaned forward onto the table, placing his chin in his hand. “We are going on a lunch date, except instead of chit-chatting, you are trying to analyze me.”

Laurens froze. “We-we-well, uh, ah, you see, I-I didn’t—” She could feel her face heating up.

Schneep smiled. “It is joke, do not worry. I know this is not the place for things like that. Besides, I am married.”

“I thought you were divorced?” Laurens muttered, taking a seat in the other chair.

“Ah, separated, but we still talk.” His smile faded. “We...did, at least.”

Laurens nodded. She pulled the notebook toward her and pushed the food toward Schneep, who stared at it for a moment before slowly reaching toward the thermos and unscrewing the lid. “Do you, um, remember what we were talking about last session?” She asked.

There was a long silence as she waited for Schneep to answer. It was a while, as he seemed more focused on the potato soup than her question. But after a few moments, he mumbled, “I believe you were attacking me about what happened last year on Christmas.”

“I wasn’t attacking you,” Laurens said. “Just asking if you wanted to talk about it.”

“Yes, but I did not—and I still do not!—and you kept asking.” Schneep looked to the side, towards the window. “I was not involved with those videos, I promise you.”

“Alright.” Laurens decided not to mention the fact that he was in several of “those videos.” Last session had been the two of them going in circles, and she felt if she continued to bring up the Christmas incident, then this one would be too. She decided to move on. “I like your hoodie,” she said. “Didn’t take you for the type to wear them.”

“...oh.” Schneep reached up and uncomfortably tugged on the hoodie strings. “Well, it was not mine at first.”

“It wasn’t?”

“No, it belonged to my friend. Jackie. He left it at my apartment one day, then only realized he left it there after he bought a replacement. So he let me keep it.”

“Jackie?” Laurens asked, intrigued. “Do you mean your friend Jack?”

Schneep laughed. “No, Jack and Jackie are different people. Though they would make jokes about that. They already looked similar enough, so they would say they are clones.”

Laurens smiled a bit. “Nice. And these two...they were the only people you considered friends?”

“No, no.” Schneep shook his head. “There was Chase and Marvin, too. It was the five of us, all together. Sometimes I thought we were closer to family.” His expression shifted, becoming a bit grayer. “I...have not seen them in a long time. I-I almost thought—hoped—they would come visit me, but I suppose not.”

“Oh...” Laurens felt an ache in her chest. “Why do you think that is?”

Schneep snorted. “Well, maybe, perhaps, because I—” He stopped short suddenly, stiffening. He turned around and looked behind him.

“Schneep?”

He was silent for a moment, eyes locked on a single spot on the wall. Then: “Shut up.”

Laurens blinked. “Me?”

He turned back around. “No, not you, I—” He sighed, letting his had fall forward into his hands. “Why am I explaining this to you? You think it is in my head.”

“Well...that doesn’t mean it’s not real,” Laurens said slowly. She was pretty sure she heard that in Harry Potter, but damn it, it was applicable to this situation. “Do you want to talk about that, or keep talking about your friends? Why do you think you haven’t seen them in a while?”

Schneep laughed dryly. “It does not matter. It is safer this way.”

“Safer?” Laurens blinked. “Why?”

There was no answer. Schneep didn’t even look up. Laurens shifted uncomfortably, making a few quick notes in her notebook in the hopes he’d say something soon. When he still hadn’t, she cleared her throat. It was worth a guess, wasn’t it? “Are you...afraid you’ll hurt them?”

Schneep looked back up. After a moment of staring at her, he nodded. Slowly.

“Oh.” Laurens didn’t feel that good about guessing correctly. If anything, she felt worse. Not in a way related to herself. But...god, she had the file on Schneep’s case. She was there when he attacked an orderly with a pen, when he’d scratched up another patient’s face. Which meant she remembered how he would start wailing apologies as soon as it was over, how he’d repeat over and over again that he didn’t mean to, that it wasn’t his fault. As bloody as his case file was, he didn’t want this. She set the notebook down. “Look, I...it may sound weird, but I believe in you. You can work through this. And we can help you with that. It’s why we’re here, after all.”

“You cannot help me.” It was less a contradiction, and more a toneless statement of fact.

“Well, we can try. Who knows? Maybe we’ll surprise you.” She tried for a gentle smile. “Hey, the food is getting cold. Are you still hungry?”

After a moment, Schneep straightened and started picking at the food she’d brought.

“Oh! And you need to remember this.” Laurens pushed the paper cup toward him. The pills inside clacked against each other.

“Yes, yes,” Schneep mumbled. He looked over at her and paused. His mouth opened, like he was about to say something. Then he closed it again, shook his head, and resumed.

And even though that night Laurens would look over the notes she took for this session and feel like nothing got done, she would later remember this as one of the better ones.

——————

What made a “good” session didn’t always depend on her. Of course, there were times when she wouldn’t push enough, and the session would be mostly chatter, or when she would push too much and Schneep would shut down in silent anger. But also...well, she learned quickly that if Schneep was having one of his bad days, they wouldn’t get much done at all.

Like the day he threw the lamp at the window. She came in to find it broken on the floor and Schneep banging and clawing at the glass. He kept attempting to force open the window, repeating “Ich bin gefangen...lass mich raus, lass mich raus!” Occasionally, he would shout “Behalte mich nicht bei ihm!” Laurens didn’t speak German, so she didn’t know what he was saying, but she could tell he was distressed. She spent the entire time attempting to calm him down.

Then there was the day, about a month after the first lunch session, when she finally made good on her promise to call for an orderly if something went wrong.

She could immediately tell this was going to be a difficult day the moment she walked into Room 309. While Schneep would usually be sitting in one of the chairs, waiting for her, today he was sitting on the bed in the corner with his knees drawn up to his chest. His eyes were wide, and there were dark bags under them. Laurens very much doubted that he’d gone to sleep the night before.

She set her lunchbox down on the small round table. Hopefully she’d get to use that today, but possibly not. “Hello Schneep,” she said. “How are you feeling today?”

Schneep didn’t say anything in answer to her usual greeting. His eyes were focused on some point in space in front of him.

“Ah. Well, that’s too bad.” She dragged one of the armchairs over so it was closer to the bed and sat down. She set her notebook on her knees and opened up to the page with today’s date listed at the top. “I brought food. We can get to that later, though, if you’re not up for it yet.” She looked up at him. “Last time we were—”

“I hate this.”

Laurens blinked. “Ex-excuse me?”

“I hate this.” Schneep was pulling on the strings of the hoodie he was wearing. It was the only one he had, the one he said belonged to his friend. “I hate this, I hate this, hate it, hate this—”

“I don’t know what you mean by ‘this’,” Laurens said patiently.

“Yes you do. You do not? You do. Please do not lie to me.”

“I’m not lying, I promise.” She gripped the edges of the notebook tightly.

His eyes whipped over toward her, still wide. “Please do not do this.”

“H-how about you tell me what the ‘this’ is, and maybe I’ll understand what you mean,” she suggested.

He looked away again, back towards that spot. “It is still going on. Why? Why does it not end?” He tugged on the hoodie strings again. “It is never over. Not—not going anywhere.”

“What isn’t?” Laurens asked quietly.

“Where are they? I do not know. I-I do not know what he wants from me.” Schneep suddenly grinned, a strangled, manic laugh escaping. His hand shot up and clamped over his mouth, but there was still the muffled sound of giggling. He started rocking back and forth, using his other arm to hug himself.

“Hey, it’s okay.” Laurens leaned forward, putting all the reassurance she could in her voice. “I want to help you, but I can’t if I don’t know everything. Who are ‘they’?”

Schneep looked back over to her. He unfolded a little from his position, though still rocking and still covering his mouth, and tugged on the hood of the hoodie he was wearing.

Lauren’s brows lowered. “Your...friends?” When Schneep nodded, she said, “I-I might be able to find them. They could come visit. Would you like that?” Another nod. Laurens briefly looked down to write a note to herself in her notebook. Schneep had provided a lot of information about them during their sessions, maybe she could do something to track them down. She looked back up. “And...who is the ‘he’?”

A renewed round of muffled laughter. Schneep began shaking his head vigorously, covering his head with the arm not already covering his mouth. He pushed backward into the wall, curling up tight once again.

“Okay, okay, you don’t have to say anything, don’t worry.” Laurens began flipping through her notebook to a single page near the back. This wasn’t the first, or even the second or the third time Schneep had mentioned a mysterious “him.” She wasn’t sure exactly what “he” meant for Schneep, only that he was very, very afraid of “him.” She was sure that if she got him to tell her about “him,” she’d make progress on what was going on inside his mind, and how to help him deal with it. 

Laurens took a moment to make a few notes, first about “him” and then about Schneep’s behavior this session. “I wanted to ask you about your medication. You know, the pills? Are they working?” Probably not. She’d probably have to change the prescription soon. “Schneep?” She looked up.

Schneep had seemed to calm down. At first glance. There wasn’t anymore rocking, and his arms weren’t wrapped around his head anymore. But then she saw that was because they were busy wrapping—

“No!” Laurens lunged forward, her notebook toppling to the floor. “Stop that! Please!”

Schneep didn’t listen to her, and when she tried to pull his hands away, he resisted. It was the string. The string that was supposed to be inside the hood, but had apparently been pulled out. It was now tangled around Schneep’s neck, and he was pulling it tighter.

“Schneep! H-Henrik, don’t—” Laurens grabbed his wrists and tried pulling them away, but with the string still tightly held in his hands that was just making it worse. She tried to pry away his fingers, and when that failed, to grab the string around his neck and pull it off. It didn’t work. She wasn’t the strongest person in the first place, and Schneep jerked his head and hands away whenever possible. She was beginning to hear small choking noises.

There was no other option. “Help!” She shouted. “Someone, anyone! We need help in here!”

Like always, an orderly had been waiting outside the door. He barged inside, taking in the scene for only a brief moment before running to Laurens’s side. A struggle later, the hoodie string was safely removed and tucked into the orderly’s pocket while Schneep was half-lying in Laurens’s arms, wheezing slightly.

Laurens looked over to the orderly. “Thanks, Oliver.”

“What happened?”

“I-I don’t know. I just looked down for a minute and he must’ve—it was from his hoodie, he removed it and started—” Laurens shuddered.

“Oh, god,” Oliver muttered disbelievingly. “We should tell Dr. Newson about this.”

“Y-yes, probably a good idea. And can you page for the med team? Just to check for any damage.” While the orderly did that, Laurens looked down at Schneep. “Hey. Stay with me, buddy. I...I hope you know that...I-I’m trying my best.”

There was a dry, hacking sound that Laurens took a moment to recognize as a laugh. Schneep muttered something.

Laurens stared at him. “What did you say...?”

“The med team’s already here,” Oliver suddenly said. “It’s probably a good thing we’re close to the med wing.”

“Oh. Okay...” Laurens was quiet as the others took Schneep away. Was quiet as she picked up her notebook and lunch box and followed them down to the medical wing. Was quiet as they said he should probably stay there for at least a night. Was quiet as she wandered down the halls toward her office.

She’d told him she was trying her best.

He responded, “So did I.”

Laurens wrote this in her notebook. She wasn’t sure why, but...it seemed important.

——————

“Oh yeah, we had to confiscate that.”

“You what?!”

Laurens stared at Dr. Newson. She’d been called down to her office to give updates on Schneep’s progress, since the strangling incident that week might’ve seemed...counter-productive. She also wondered if maybe Dr. Newson was taking this as a chance to convince her to drop the case. But nothing could’ve prepared her for Dr. Newson casually mentioning...that.

“Well, of course.” Dr. Newson shrugged. Her posture was very relaxed, almost lounging in her office swivel chair on the other side of the desk. “You know the regulations. If we can’t have button-up shirts in the hospital, then I guess we can’t have hoodies either.”

“You...you could’ve just removed the string and let him keep the hoodie itself,” Laurens suggested.

“Hmmmm maybe.” Dr. Newson leaned back. “Or maybe he would’ve found a way to choke himself on that overlarge collar hoodies have. I’m not taking that risk.”

“But Dr. Newson—”

“Who’s in charge of the hospital?”

Laurens looked down, shifting in her chair. She idly looked around Dr. Newson’s desk as a way to distract herself. A bunch of paperwork, a desktop computer, and a framed photograph of Dr. Newson with a man who looked a lot like her.

“Why are you so concerned about this?” Dr. Newson asked. “It’s just a hoodie.”

“It-it’s important to him,” Laurens said meekly.

“Huh,” Dr. Newson stated. Was it just Laurens’s imagination, or was there a new, hard light in Newson’s eyes? “Well, I would think staying alive would be worth more. You can apologize to him if you want.”

Laurens nodded.

Dr. Newson idly ran a hand through her ponytail. “I’m thinking we need to move him to the first floor.”

“What?!” Laurens straightened. “No! We’re not at that point yet!”

“After multiple attempted attacks on staff and patients, shown destructive behavior, and now this? We’re still not at the point, huh?”

“But—but nothing’s succeeded since the pen incident,” Laurens said, trying to keep the desperation out of her voice.

“Alright, fine,” Dr, Newson waved away. “It’s too much red tape anyway. But know I’m considering it. I expect more progress reports from you.”

Laurens felt an acidic wave of words rise in her throat. Progress reports? Like it was as simple as building a new road. The human mind was a lot more complicated than that, and progress wasn’t linear. But of course, she couldn’t yell any of this at her boss, so she kept quiet.

“I’ll be keeping track of any more incidents,” Dr. Newson continued. “If they become excessive, and/or dangerous, and/or more successful, then we’re moving him. Okay?”

“Okay,” Laurens repeated quietly.

“Great.” Dr. Newson straightened up. “You’ve dropped all other patients to focus on this, Rya, don’t fail.” She relaxed again. “You can leave now, if there isn’t anything else.”

Laurens pushed her chair back and stood up. “Goodbye, Dr. Newson. I’ll see you tomorrow.” 

“Bye.” Dr. Newson waved lazily. As Laurens left, she heard Newson mutter something else. “Dunno why you’re so concerned about this anyway.”

It was a good question. Why was Laurens so concerned with Schneep’s predicament? But a better question was, why wouldn’t she be? She’d seen him lash out at others, true, but she also saw him strangle himself with a hoodie string. She’d read the case file about all the things he’d done to those poor people, but she also heard him admit he was scared he’d hurt his friends.

Dr. Schneeplestein was not fully in control of his own mind. And he knew it. And it terrified him. Maybe it was Laurens’s natural empathy, or maybe it was her training as a psychiatrist that told her to never leave anyone behind, but she wanted to help.

And when she arrived home that night, she logged onto her computer and typed a name into a search bar. Maybe she could help by finding someone he wanted to see.

Or maybe it would be a bad thing to alert these people. After all, he had said he didn’t want to hurt them. But Laurens thought that everyone needed their friends.

[markoplayssims]

Road to Nowhere: Intros - Crystal Vu’s Orphanage

The Strangetown Orphanage has recently re-opened its doors to children in need, and just in time for a new generation of orphans - a pair of siblings, Erwin and Jessie, and a set of ex-adoptees with G names, the Newsons.

When she isn’t at the local science lab, Crystal Vu is stepping up to be the one to look after these rowdy kids. Although looking after so many children can test her patience from time to time, Crystal maintains a great degree of compassion for them all.

With so many kids under one roof, things are often chaotic and stressful. Will the orphans manage to grow up well under Crystal’s care, or will this cramped environment do more harm to them than good?

= Crystal Vu = A brilliant inventor with a big heart, Crystal enjoys creating wondrous machines for the betterment of society and looking after those in need. That’s what the newspapers say, at least.

Crystal is a woman of simple pleasures. She loves tinkering, money, baby animals, and the company of others.

She tries to be the role model that she believes the orphans need in their lives. Not all of them seem to like her, unfortunately, but she’s doing her best. Maybe they’ll come around? That’s what she hopes for, at least.

Aside from her community service, she wants to work on her home inventions, but the children demand quite a lot of her attention, and she often struggles to balance her work with her passion.

A nice man, fellow scientist Lazlo Curious, has been making offers to help her out with her latest inventions, but she hasn’t taken him up on any such offers just yet. They’re secret projects, and you can’t be too careful who you share your ideas with.

= The Newsons = After their mother’s unresolved disappearance, the adopted Newson clan is faced with the reality of separation. With no parents to guide or protect them, the Newsons have to take refuge under the roof of the Strangetown Orphanage and hope that they can stick together.

Adopted siblings Ginger, Gavin, Gabriella, Gallagher, Georgia, and Garrett never thought that they’d have to return to a group home after Gloria graciously brought them all under her wing, most recently bringing a pair of toddler twins into the family, before she vanished without a trace.

The story goes that famed astronaut Gloria Newson was a kind and charitable woman who managed to balance having a large family with defending the nation from interstellar threats. She cared deeply for children, despite the inability to have any of her own, and this led her to adopt the six Newson kids. After she disappeared, the kids couldn’t live by themselves, and they had nowhere to go... except for here.

Troubled teen Ginger now has to step up to keep a close eye on the rest of her siblings and the other orphans, despite the stress it causes her. Gavin is working towards becoming a man, working hard to the point of exhaustion, balancing it out by watching movies about space cowboys and hoping he’ll live that dream one day.

Gabriella and Gallagher put their focus on keeping up on their homework, while hopefully waiting for the call that their mother has come back so that they can return home. She’s coming back, right? She’s got to come back.

Lastly, Crystal is trying to teach Georgia and Garrett their toddler skills, but the time she has until their birthdays is rapidly running out.

= Erwin Pries = Erwin’s crackpot conspiracy theories net him weird looks, but for him, it’s the only thing keeping his head above water. Maybe one of these days, he’ll turn out to be right.

Erwin strongly believes that the alien invasion never ended, that the zombie apocalypse is coming, and that he ought to prepare special headgear to protect against mind-controlling plants from another dimension. Of course, everyone just thinks he’s ‘crazy’ and ‘weird’ and a total nerd who doesn’t know what he’s talking about, but it doesn’t matter to him what other people think.

He knows what’s true, and he knows that when one or all of those scenarios he’s preparing for come to pass, everyone who has ever doubted him will be sorry.  They’ll want in on his apocalypse shelter, and... he will graciously let them in, because he’s not that petty. But he’ll definitely say “I told you so” a few times.

He’s always been interested in this stuff, but after his parents died, the conspiracy theories became less of a hobby and more of a coping mechanism. After all, why face the darkness of daily life when you can imagine the darker possibilities of ‘what’s really going on’ beyond yourself?

Erwin insists that his surname is pronounced like ‘breeze,’ but considering the overly-inquisitive, nosy person he is, it’s not surprising that everyone gets it wrong.

= Jessie Pries = Jessie’s favorite pastimes include playing dolls and annoying her older brother. She misses her parents and her home, but she’s happy to have so many kids to play with... or she would be, if any of these kids knew what ‘fun’ even was.

Jessie’s young life was turned upside down after her parents died. Ever since, her smile has lost some of its’ luster, but she hasn’t lost her mischievous spirit. She’s definitely one of the more rambunctious kids in the orphanage, usually to the dismay of... just about everyone, it seems.

Her pranks and jokes are all in good fun, even though she keeps getting told off for them. But what else is she supposed to do? It’s so boring around here. There’s only so many games of Don’t Wake The Llama you can stand before it starts to lose its’ spark. It seems like the only game the other kids want to play.

As for Crystal, she’s... nice, but she’s not very fun to play with. It’s always just “do your chores” and “do your homework” and “help me look after the babies” with her. She’s so clinical about it, far from a real mother figure. And let’s not get started on Ginger ‘Killjoy’ Newson, who seems determined to rain on her parade.

Worst of all, Erwin, her own brother, doesn’t seem to want to do anything with her anymore. It’s like he’s living in his own little world. Jessie misses when she was the center of attention...

[lazymysteries-blog]

The Laci Peterson Case: Did Her Husband Really Do It?

Laci Peterson

Laci Denise Peterson was born on May 4, 1975, in Modesto, California to parents, Sharon and Dennis Robert Rocha. She had an older brother named, Brent Rocha and a half-sister named, Amy Woodward. Laci’s parents divorced when she was very young and both parents eventually got remarried. As a child, Laci loved working on the dairy farm that her family owned and gardening with her mother. That love for the outdoors and plants would influence her later in life.

Laci graduated from Thomas Downey High school where she was a cheerleader before attending California Polytechnic State University where she majored in Ornamental Horticulture. It was during her college years in 1994 that Laci would meet her future husband, Scott Peterson. They met at a cafe her friend worked at and they immediately hit it off. In 1997 they got married and three years later in October 2000, they purchased a house in Laci’s home town Modesto, California. During this time Scott was working at a European fertilizer company and Laci was working part-time as a substitute teacher while dedicating the rest of her time to being a “perfect” housewife according to her mother and half-sister. In 2002 Laci became pregnant with their first child. They were expecting a baby boy on February 16, 2003, who they planned to name Conner. 

The Disappearance of Laci Peterson

December 24, 2002, started as a normal day for the Petersons. Laci was watching cooking shows, preparing to mop the floor, and getting her home ready for Christmas the next day. At 9:30 am Scott left his home to go fishing at the Berkeley Marina. Laci Peterson was never seen alive again. At least that’s what Scott Peterson claims. Can we really trust him though? Well, let’s see… Other than Scott the last two people who had spoken to Laci were her mother, Sharon and her half-sister, Amy. On December 23 both Laci and Scott went to a hair salon that Amy worked at to get Scott’s monthly hair cut and that night around 8:30 pm Laci spoke on the phone with her mother. They had no idea that that would be the last time they would speak to Laci again. 

At 2:15 pm on the 24th Scott sent a message to his wife saying, “Hey, beautiful. It’s 2:15. I’m leaving Berkely.” When Scott returned home he saw that his wife’s 1996 Land Rover was parked in the driveway and he made his way into their home. Upon entering the house he noticed that his wife was not home but it didn’t worry him too much, he assumed that she was with her mother. Scott told the police that once he got home he took a shower and washed his clothes because they were wet from fishing. Multiple news outlets including the New York Post and The Modesto Bee report that Ron Grantski, Laci’s stepfather, reported her missing after Scott had called Laci’s mother at 5:15 pm when Laci still had not returned home. However, ABC News reports that Scott was the first person to report Laci as a missing person from their Modesto home. 

When police arrived at the scene and began searching the home they found Laci’s sunglasses, keys, and wallet in her purse in a closet. The dinner table was set for the following night and one of the detectives on the case found a phone book opened to a defense lawyer. During the search, police noticed Scott’s extremely calm demeanor. That night the two lead detectives questioned Scott. Originally Scott said that he had gone golfing that day but then later backtracked and stated that he had gone to the Berkely Marina. The police force immediately launched a search for Laci Peterson. Within the first two days of Laci’s disappearance, before any huge media coverage, there had already been 900 people involved in the search for her. After nationwide coverage of the case, that number almost doubled in size to over 1,500 people searching for Laci. A reward of $25,000 was offered to anyone with info on Laci’s disappearance but that price would end up gradually increasing to $500,000.

The Murder of Laci Peterson

On April 13, 2003, a couple who were out walking their dog found the body of a late-term fetus at the San Fransisco Bay shore in Richmond’s Point Isabel Regional Shoreline Park. The umbilical cord of the corpse was still attached to its body and it had been torn instead of cut or clamped. Nylon tape was around the neck of the fetus and there was a large cut on the fetus’ body. Just one day later the body of a previously pregnant woman was found washed up on the eastern rocky shoreline one mile away from where the fetus was found by someone passing by. The body was so decomposed that it was unrecognizable. She was decapitated and her limbs were missing. The forensic pathologist determined through DNA testing that the bodies were, in fact, Laci and Conner Peterson. The forensic pathologist claimed that he couldn’t determine how Laci or Conner died or whether or not the fetus had been born alive or dead but then went on to contradict himself in court when he said, “It was her death that caused Conners while he was in the uterus.”

The conviction of Scott Peterson in the murder of Laci and Conner Peterson

On January 17, 2003, it was publicized that Scott had been having an extramarital affair with a massage therapist named, Amber Frey. The affair had begun about mid-November and allegedly Scott had told Frey that he was a widower about two weeks before the disappearance of his wife. Shortly after Frey found out about Scott’s involvement in the disappearance of Laci Peterson she contacted the police and agreed to assist the police by secretly recording their phone conversations. According to Frey Scott had told her that he was celebrating the New Years’ Eve in Paris but later admitted that he had been in Modesto searching for his missing wife. At this point, the public, Laci’s family, and the police force were extremely suspicious of Scott Peterson. 

On April 18, 2003, Scott was arrested near La Jolla golf course. He claimed to be meeting his brother and father for a game of golf. However, his car was filled with random things including $15,000 in cash, 12 viagra pills, survival gear, camping equipment, several changes of clothes, four cellphones, and two driver licenses. One was his and the other was his brothers. In addition to all of that his naturally brown hair was dyed blond. Scott and his family insisted that his car was in the condition that it was in because he had been living out of it in an attempt to avoid the press and his hair was dyed blond for the same reasons. According to Scott and his family, the police failed to mention that Scott had actually spoken to the police while his hair was dyed blonde.

On April 21, 2003, Scott was charged and pled not guilty to, two felony counts of murder with premeditation and special circumstances. Judge Al Girolami of Stanislaus County Superior Court moved his trial to San Mateo County because of the Bias of the people against Scott Peterson in Stanislaus County. Scott’s trial began on June 1, 2004, and on November 12, 2004, he was convicted of first-degree murder in the death of Laci Peterson and second-degree murder in the death of his unborn son Conner. He was sentenced to death but his order is postponed along with 737 death row prisoners in California for the duration of Gov. Gavin Newson’s tenure.

My Thoughts

Before I started doing my own research on this case I felt that there was a huge possibility that Scott was innocent, however, as I continued my search for answers I realized that the chances of him being innocent were a lot slimmer than I had originally thought. At this point, I can genuinely say that I have no idea whether or not he committed this crime but I do know one thing. If he isn’t guilty he is most definitely the world’s unluckiest man. Either that or karma really had a chip on its shoulder for Scott Peterson. 

On one hand, I can’t help but notice that it seemed like from the start that the entire world hated him. Unfortunately, that hatred, no doubt, influenced Scott’s conviction. The fact of the matter is there is little to no physical evidence against Scott Peterson. The only physical evidence there was, in this case, was a single strand of Laci Peterson’s hair found in a pair of pliers in Scott’s boat. The rest of the “evidence” against Scott was purely demeanor driven. Which under normal circumstances just wouldn’t have been enough for someone to be convicted of a crime of this caliber. In addition to all of that, the way the investigation was conducted was so shady to me. The defense team performed a test to see if a 150-pound human can be thrown over a small boat and they determined that it could not be done. The court refused to conduct the test in trial claiming that it would be too dangerous to test which literally proves that they knew it couldn’t be done. The fact that they never even attempted to take this evidence into account just shows how unfair the trail was. In addition to that, the police failed to investigate a break-in that happened across the street from the Peterson’s house the day of Laci’s disappearance. Why not investigate something like that? Why not explore all avenues? This is not justice. This investigation was not conducted with Laci’s best interest at heart. Justice would have been investigating until the person convicted was absolutely guilty of the crime.

On the other hand, Scott’s demeanor is… to say the least creepy. On more than one occasion he has incriminated himself. Besides, the affair and the possible attempted getaway he has refused a polygraph test and acted suspiciously during interviews, most notably,  in an interview with Diane Sawyer on ABC’s Good Morning America Scott referred to his wife in the past tense before her body was found saying, “She was amazing.” These things and many others have me asking myself why an innocent man would continuously do and say things that mirror the actions of someone who is guilty. 

My final word is that I hope that Scott Peterson can have a retrial. Not for him but for Laci. I just can’t help but feel like so many questions about her murder have gone unanswered. That is just not fair to Laci or her family. What are your thoughts? Do you believe that Scott Peterson did it? Or do you think that it was someone else? Discuss your thoughts in the comment section. 

 Until next time, bye.

SOURCES

https://time.com/3461244/gone-girl-scott-peterson/

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/blind-injustice/201801/is-scott-peterson-innocent-part-one

https://www.reddit.com/r/UnresolvedMysteries/comments/70rkn6/could_scott_peterson_be_innocent/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Laci_Peterson

https://www.eonline.com/uk/news/901220/secrets-lies-sadness-laci-peterson-s-murder-is-long-solved-but-here-s-why-the-case-won-t-rest

https://members.huntakiller.com/blog-articles/2017/8/16/new-docuseries-questions-scott-petersons-guilt

http://www.statementanalysis.com/scott-peterson/

https://www.bustle.com/articles/160363-what-happened-to-amber-frey-scott-petersons-girlfriend-shes-trying-to-put-the-case-behind-her

[artcenterstories]

Climbing the Ladder: Meet Catalyst CCO Josh Wright

AC: What inspired you to co-found Catalyst? Josh Wright (BS Product Design '03) Co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer, Catalyst: The seed was planted when I was at ArtCenter. The College trains you to think about design, not just from the aesthetic or mechanical point of view, but also from a business perspective.

At ArtCenter, I was encouraged to look for a business partner. When you have someone who focuses on the financials, you can focus on making design work for the business.

AC: You've had an interesting career trajectory. Can you speak about your journey? JW: Designing for an outdoor lifestyle has always been important to me. In the early years of my career, I started working in California, designing a lot of sports and lifestyle products, including footwear and backpacks for various surf, skate and snow companies.

Then, I moved to Wichita, Kansas, to work for the iconic Coleman company. It was a cool experience because it was a very small design team, and I got to touch all of their products. After six months, I contributed $30 million to the company's bottom line.

That's something else ArtCenter taught me: Don't go to Porsche; don't go to Apple — they already have great design. Go to a brand that doesn't have great design, yet. Bringing good design and storytelling to their products transformed a 100-year-old brand into something fresh and fun. And they still sell some of my products today.

I later worked at Tumi in New York designing some of their carbon-fiber luggage and helping to expand some of the product categories into footwear, wristwatches and apparel. In 2006, I got this amazing opportunity in Hong Kong and I spent the next four years working at a world-class design consultancy firm. But I was always on the lookout for a business partner, based on what I had learned in school.

AC: How did you meet your Catalyst co-founder? JW: Rock climbing. It's one of the reasons I wanted to move here — the climbing community in Hong Kong brings together such a diverse group of people. My co-founder and I have such different backgrounds — she's from bio-tech and finance.

Through the years, we developed a friendship based on trust from countless days of climbing the jungles. We realized that we had complementary skills, with her business and my design background and our mutual desire to be outdoors. We wanted to create outdoor products that brought value to people's lives — that was the genesis of Catalyst.

AC: What was the first Catalyst product you designed? JW: At the time in 2010, the iPhone was becoming the device of choice, even for climbers, so our product was a fully waterproof protective iPhone 4 case. Soon after, we launched and had a successful Kickstarter campaign.

Today, Catalyst has reached a tipping point where it's becoming a global household brand name; our products are available in over 70 countries and major retailers, including Apple, BestBuy and Target, as well as eight Amazon marketplaces, four Shopify websites and WeChat in China.

AC: Catalyst 20L Waterproof backpack recently received the prestigious Red Dot Award. Can you speak about the design process? JW: Each of our products fills a need and solves a problem. The waterproof backpack offers travelers an ultra-compact, -lightweight pack that folds into a carry pouch that's a little smaller than a 12-ounce soda can.

Waterproof is a core component of Catalyst. I'm kind of a nerd for waterproof products.

I've used this bag as a flotation device while snorkeling in Thailand. I've carried it through heavy tropical rainstorms and through a canyoneering trip in northern Italy, where I was jumping off waterfalls. The backpack works incredibly well. When the bag is rolled up, anything you keep inside it will stay dry.

AC: What are you working on right now? JW: We're always working on something new — we launch eight to 12 products every year. We were the first company to make waterproof cases for Apple watch and AirPods.

The backpack line is something we're currently working on expanding, and soft goods in general. We're heavily focused on expanding our business solutions for industrial applications of our products, including for oil and gas, hospitals and schools.

AC: How do you define success? JW: Being able to create products I believe that bring value to the people who use them, and seeing a lantern I designed for the Coleman company being used on the show The Walking Dead.

AC: Do you have any superstitions? JW: My dad always told me that it is bad luck to be superstitious and I live by that.

AC: What’s the design cliché you’re most tempted to use? JW: I really subscribe to modernism. I believe that form should follow function with zero added details for ornamentation. Everything I build is intentionally designed, but not decorative. We are loosening up this "cliché" by adding some fashion and styling elements to some of our future collections, which I'm pretty excited about.

AC: What’s the one tool you can’t do without? JW: My iPhone.

AC: What’s the first site you look at when you open your computer in the morning? JW: Slack.

AC: What do you do to detox from media and screens? JW: It's not just screens, it's the city itself because Hong Kong is so crowded. My detox is my weekends out in nature: rock climbing, hiking, canyoneering or surfing. I think an amazing secret of Hong Kong is that two-thirds of the territory is subtropical jungle with unreal, pristine waterfalls and beaches.

AC: If you could trade jobs with anyone for a day who would it be? JW: As a designer, there's no other job I'd rather be doing. But as a kid, I always wanted to be a marine biologist like Jacques Cousteau.

AC: What book is on your bedside table? JW: I have three books; none of them are finished. One is a history book called Tragedy & Hope: A History of the World in Our Time, another is a business book The E Myth and the third is a just-for-fun, fiction book called This Book Is Full of Spiders: Seriously, Dude, Don't Touch It (John Dies at the End).

AC: Who are the most interesting designers working today? JW: Marc Newson. I also really like Michael Young — he's a British-born designer based in Hong Kong. Toy designer Michael Lau was at the forefront of the urban vinyl movement and I love his style. I'm also a huge fan of James Dyson, Jonathan Ive, and entertainment designer Stan Winston has always inspired me.

AC: Were you exposed to design growing up? JW: I come from quite an artistic and mechanically inclined family. My grandfather was a renaissance man: a photographer, inventor, mechanic, engineer, architect, designer... He had so many hobbies and passions, and he created so many things. He made all of my grandmother's jewelry.

He designed and physically built the house his family lived in, including the thermostat and heating system from spare parts. He built motorcycles for my mother and her siblings. When I was a kid, he built us a tree house with a zip line, which was super dangerous, and go-karts. I was always around people who were artistic and creating things.

AC: Describe a moment in your childhood when you first identified as a designer. JW: When I was in high school, I was lucky to have an art teacher who brought in different brochures from art and design schools around the world. For the first time, I was aware you could design cars, toys or products as a career. As a kid, I was always sketching, building models, taking things apart and putting them together. When I found out it was a career path, there was no other option for me.

AC: If you could have a superpower, what would it be? JW: Eternal life — I have too many hobbies and not enough time.

AC: What’s your most prized possession? JW: My grandfather passed away this year, and I have the camera he used when he was working as a photographer and a backpack he built for his Boy Scout group in the 1950s.

AC: Where is your happy place? JW: There are so many! Twenty meters deep, swimming with manta rays off the coast of Thailand, snowboarding in Japan. There's a canyon in Hong Kong that looks like Jurassic Park — it's just so raw with waterfalls everywhere. But to summarize, my happy place is being outside in a gorgeous location with people I care about.

AC: How would your closest friend describe you? JW: A relentless, laser-focused — I hate to say it — asshole, but with a heart of gold.

[tamtam-go92]

Pleasantview +25 years recap

Pleasantview +25 years is my attempt at joining all my favorite families through out the franchise in one save. I've spent about four days in creating over 45 families that populate all of the worlds I have in The Sims 4. And when I say I created them, I actually mean I downloaded them from the gallery. =//) I'm not particularly good at creating Sims... Willow Creek are only Pleasantview Sims, Oasis Springs are mostly Strangetown Sims, Newcrest are mostly rich Sims from all the games, San Myshuno is everyone I didn't know where to locate them, mostly single Sims, and Banacle Bay are the creative and LGBT Sims. I also really need to thank @homijoh for sharing her rule set with us some time ago. I loved it and I'm using it for this rotational game play. For more information (I warn you, A LOT of Information since I tell a thing or two about every family) look behind the cut!

Willow Creek:

Broke I Household: Brandi, Beau and Skip Junior – Brandi never remarried and did an okay job at raising three boys on her own.

Broke II Household: Dustin, Angela, Susan, Mitch, Melinda, Brad – Dustin had got Angela pregnant as a teen and from that day on, their relationship went downhill. Why they are still together? Probably because of their four children.

Burb Household: John, Jennifer, Michael – Michael is the recreation of a son the Burbs had once in my game. Never forgot him =)

Dreamer Household: Dirk, Lilith, Hugo, Irmi – Hugo and Irmi are twins and their parent's whole proud.

Dreamer-Goth Household: Darren, Cassandra, Manuel, Daniela, Dorothee – After a bad divorce from Don Lothario, Cassandra found true love in Darren Dreamer and they had two girls. Darren took her son with Don in, like his own flesh.

Goth Household: Alexander, Lucy, Agatha – Alex and Lucy are too buzy with their career to care for their only daughter Agatha.

Goth-Caliente Household: Dina, Nina, Simon, Enrique – Dina inherited Goth Manor from her decreased husband Mortimer and took her sister and nephew in.

Langerak-Pleasant Household: Daniel, Kaylynn, Trina, Zelda – After leaving Mary-Sue for the Maid, Daniel wouldn't have thought to ever hear teenage girls fight again, yet here he is!

Lothario Household: Don, Bianca – Don was a d*ck to women and here he is, estranged from his two sons. After an abduction by aliens and the birth of his daughter Bianca Don suddenly saw clear regarding his sexuality.

Oldie Household: Mary-Sue is divorced and moved back in with her parents. Since 25 years she's bickering with her elderly mother.

Oasis Springs:

Beaker Household: Loki, Circe, Atom, Ceres – With his clone children Loki could save Circe from a pregnancy and yet have his perfect family!

Curious Household: Pascal, Vidcund, Lazlo, Crystal, Tycho, Techna, Erik, Marie – Crystal has no idea how she managed to live with her brothers in law and their strange kids for over 20 years.

Grunt Household: Ripp, Buck, Jill, Ralf – People say the older sibling should be responsible for the younger siblings. Tell that Ripp Grunt...

Landgraab Household: Nancy, Geoffrey, Malcolm – Just the normal Sims 4 Landgraab family.

Loner Household: Ajay, Erin, Vincent, Linus – Ajay married Erin Beaker and had two boys with her.

Roomies Household: Zoe, Mitchel, J, Gavin – Just the normal Sims 4 Roomies household.

Smith Household: Johnny, Ophelia, Sally, Ginny, Ben, Dora – The only problem of this family is, which of the girls should share their room with their baby sister.

Zugovich Household: A family introduced in the Sims pet stories. Just a little gag to add some fresh blood.

Newcrest:

Alto Household: Holly II, Don, Trenton – My interpretation is, that the Holly Alto from DS is the daughter of the Holly Alto from The Sims 3. Trenton is a Sim from Lunar Lakes.

Capp Household: Juliette, Romeo, Cleo, Linea – Juliette married her big love, she had her happy ending with her Romeo.

Jacquet Household: Gilbert, Florence, Sébastian – I never really shipped those two, but I wanted to include both.

Summerdream Household: Bottom, Hal, Fiona – Hal and Bottom usually end up together in my game and make a decent couple.

Worthington Household: Frances J- III, Joyce, Frances J. IV – Frances has his trophy wife and a beautiful daughter to keep the name alive.

San Myshuno:

Bunch Household: Mary – Mary is a descendant of the Sunset Valley Bunches.

Elson Household: Craig II – Craig is named after his great-grandfather from Starlight Shores.

Fair-weather Friends Household: Keiko, Mateo, Anthony, Holly – Just the household form the gallery.

Gieke Household: Chester, Testee – Chester lives a life in retreat with his alien daughter.

Inkbeard Household: Opal, Jane – Opal is a descendant of the Barnacle Bay Inkbeard family and Jane is her wife.

Karaoke Legends Household: Miko, Darling, Akira – Just the normal Karaoke Legends Household from The Sims 4.

Newon Household: Garrett – Garrett Newson looked for a life in solitude after growing up in a crowded place.

Pancakes Household: Bob, Eliza, Igga – The Sims 4 Pancakes family with their gallery son Iggy just moved to San Myshuno.

Patel Household: Ramir, Ana, Louis, Maya, Mali, Kirian – The Patels form Belladonna Cove with their four children. They aren't related with Zoe Patel from Oasis Springs.

Sekemoto Household: Cecila, Len – Cecilia is the grand-daughter of Sam Sekemoto. I created her a long time ago in the Sims 2 and there she became Alexander Goth's wife (his wife in the DS version is called Cecilia. But now she's only the mother of Len Sekemoto, a Sim from Lunar Lakes.

Sims Household: John – Your average white guy next door and son of the tutorial Sims.

Tricou Household: Orion – Always a loner Orion lives in an almost empty penthouse.

Vatore Household: Caleb, Lilith – The Vatore family from Forgotten Hollow. I don't have Vampires, so they are just some ordinary Gothics.

Xio Household: Tian – He's from Shang Simala and just recently moved to San Myshuno.

Yuan Household: Kien – After a successful career as a k-pop icon, Kien retired in San Myshuno.

Brindleton Bay:

Climate Household: Arthur, Janine, Summer, Nicolas – Just the normal Climate family from the gallery.

Delgato Household: Supriya, Justin, Pierce, Evie – Just the normal Sims 4 Delgato family.

GilsCarbo Household: Goopy, Alice, Celeste – Everybody's favorite townie with his Sims 3 family.

Hecking Household: Just the ordinary Sims 4 Hecking family.

Lynx Household: Just the ordinary Sims 4 Lynx family.

Monty Household: Mercutio, Tybalt – After their hate turned into love, those two ran away together and now own a huge mansion in Brindleton Bay.

Ottomas Household: David – After growing up with much to many siblings, all David wanted to be was alone.

Una Household: Natasha, Joana – Nobody ever knew who Joana's father was. It's totally wasn't obvious!

I haven’t played much until now, only about 36 hours with the Broke I household. I suspect it to be a bit buggy with SO many sims (it’s already 147) but I hope my PC can handle it. I’m really excited to play this!