Newcomers in Newcrest (Failed -- Move to Graveyard)

[MarianT]

You captured that last photo perfectly! She looks like she is thinking how dreamy he is and he is acting all cool but knows she is there.. 

Pure serendipity. But I love how expressive these sims are.

[MarianT]

Zargon, Week 5

One morning during breakfast, Aniara suggested that they form a club. Luthor would be the leader – that way they could still have meetings once he moved out. They could get points that would help with job progress and skills. But what should they do to earn points?

"Play with toys," said Luthor.
"Do homework," said Guy.
"Be mean to the Oirats and those people with the art gallery," said Aniara.



The final activity they added was playing the violin.



Luthor's choice of toy worried his mother. "You're Superman's arch-rival, honey," she reminded him. "Not his friend."



Meanwhile, Guy was painting her portraits. "I've never see you in your disguise," he commented. Aniara changed, but she didn't like the way she looked. It was too insipid.



She did like the picture he did of her in her natural form, though, especially since she was wearing her new dress. She had an air of command, she thought.



Aniara had written an epic saga about Luthor so he could go without sleeping or eating while he practiced the violin.



She had accidentally started another, so she finished it and gave it to Zachary Masterson for his birthday.



Now that Aniara had skilled up in rocket science, she didn't need helpers anymore, but Zachary and Kasey couldn't move out until Luthor did.



Early one morning, Luthor reached the highest level of violin skill possible. He couldn't start working on his next skill until he became a teen. Zachary was the only one up, so the two of them went out to explore Windenburg. The town was a bit misty still in the early morning light.



They went into the library first, which was a very imposing building.



Luthor sat and read for a while, and Zachary tried to hack the Llamacorn Listserv.



Then he got up and introduced himself to a woman playing chess. She wasn't very pleased to meet him.  She didn't like aliens, she told him.



Luthor didn't like hanging around with this angry person so he asked Zachary if they could go somewhere else. "Well, there's the bar," said Zachary, "or the nightclub, or the...How would you like to go to the ruins?"

Luthor was much impressed when they arrived. "Did we Zargons blast this place?" he asked.
"I don't think so," said Zachary. "I think it just fell down."



They were both starting to feel hungry and sleepy so they went home.

Aniara felt pretty good about herself when she got home from work. She just needed one more day to get her final promotion, and she'd finished adding the wormhole upgrade to the rocket ship. She practiced dancing for a bit...



...and then went to visit the nightclub. As she entered the building she noticed the Grim Reaper ahead of her, and one of the Oirats next to her.



For a while, Aniara was content to watch one of the Spinmasters show off on the dance floor.



But then she thought of something she'd always wanted to do – scare the Grim Reaper with a probe.



Flushed with success, Aniara challenged Tianna to a dance-off. They both moved to the music for a bit.



Then Tianna showed off her moves. So she could flail her arms around, Aniara thought. Anyone could do that.



Aniara tried to do the move she'd practiced at home but it didn't come out right.



She ducked out of the nightclub pretty quickly and went home. Still, Aniara felt pretty good. She'd almost completed her requirements, and once Luthor became a teen, he'd make quick work of his.

[Nutella]

Is Luthor's skin tone slightly lighter than his mom?  Or is it my computer video card playing tricks on me?

[MarianT]

Is Luthor's skin tone slightly lighter than his mom?  Or is it my computer video card playing tricks on me?

Yes, it seems to be a lighter shade, but it was dark when he was born. I'll have to see how it looks when he grows up.

[oshizu]

When I'm playing, I root for the current family. But I'll admit, I was panicking about Aniara getting pregnant in time, so I let another alien come through the wormhole generator. She and Guy Crump formed a romantic relationship on their own, though.

Oh right, you would need to root for the active family. I'm thinking as your reader. :-)
This challenge really moves swiftly and really underscores how much can happen in even a few sim weeks.
In week 4, Aniara is just giving birth to her heir while her rival's heirs celebrated their teen birthdays.
Oh and brilliant move making Ma Baird a bro then moving in three bros.
Right now, Aiara's story is most fascinating because it's so different although, like others, I didn't take to her at first.
But I love the combo of blue skin and blonde hair--makes her and her son, like, so punk.
Thank you for such an intriguing challenge and for your own story!

[Joria]

Wow, moving right along!  I'm loving this story.  So how did Grim handle the probe thing?  That had me cracking up.

[MarianT]

Wow, moving right along!  I'm loving this story.  So how did Grim handle the probe thing?  That had me cracking up.

It was no big deal to him. I wanted Aniara to use the freeze ray on him, but I guess she couldn't do that. So I had the option for the probe, and decided to try that instead. Great fun at the nightclub, I'll have to send my sims more often.

[KTK10]

Fantastic Dance off! hahaha.. Luthor is gorgeous

[MarianT]

Thanks, KTK10!

One thing I haven't mentioned is how I'm picking traits for my heirs. One trait comes from the father, one from the mother, and one is the opposite of a trait that either the father or mother has. So --

Lipitor -- genius (father), hot-headed (mother), then either slob or active
Azalea -- creative (mother), bro (father), then either lazy or loner
Luthor -- neat (father), ambitious (mother), either good or gloomy

[Magpie2012]

For Azalea: loner will go a lot better with creative since painting/writing/practicing piano/violin are solitary pursuits!

Sent from my BlackBerry 9720 using Tapatalk

[MarianT]

@Magpie2012, Azalea is going to have to run a retail store, so "loner" is not a good trait for that. It looks like she's going to be lazy.

Oirat, Week 5

Now that he was a teen, Lipitor was able to spend a lot of time working on his garden. He'd put a special lock on the gate so that he was the only one who could come in here. So far, all he had were dragon fruit.



But that was about to change. That Zargon woman had informed his mother with great glee that she'd completed the final upgrade to her rocket ship. Lipitor thought that he might just stroll by their house and see whether he could use their rocket ship to travel to Sixam. The Mastersons were in front when he arrived, but they didn't stop him from boarding.



The first thing he did when he arrived was to pay his respects to Homeworld. Sixam was only a moon of Homeworld, but it was where they had had to re-locate after the war with the Zargons had destroyed the possibility of life on the planet.



Just thinking about the war made Lipitor angry, but that was okay. You needed to have your adrenalin running when you tried to pick a fang flower off a tentacle tree.



The quill plant was also a bit tricky, but Lipitor managed to extract a seed. The last plant he harvested was the glow orb, which was much easier.



As he prepared to leave, he spotted a young woman. To his relief, she wasn't another Zargon but green like his father, although a paler shade. Her name was Wendy Agarwal, and she was quite interested in his pictures of Newcrest.



Out of the corner of his eye, Lipitor saw the Zargon woman and the rest of her family. He hurriedly said good-bye to Wendy and returned to the portal. Luckily, it sent him back to his own home rather than the Zargons' lot.



While he was adding the fang flower, quill fruit and glow orb to his garden, his parents emerged from the Observatory. Lipitor didn't know exactly what they'd been doing there, but he had a good idea. It made him feel a little excited and uncomfortable to think that someday he and Wendy would be doing the same thing.



Later, he told his dad about seeing the Zargons on Sixam. "I know," said his father. "When I tried to contact aliens at work, they showed up then, too. I hope they're not going to make a habit of it."



A few days later, Lipitor invited Wendy to meet him at the park in Willow Creek. She couldn't stay long, but Lipitor was able to find out a little more about her. She was self-assured, childish, and noncommittal. This wasn't the greatest combination for a spouse, but it could have been worse.



"You'll need to make some friends," Lipitor's dad reminded him, so he joined the Garden Gnomes. This was a club that usually met at Hare Square in Windenburg, so Lipitor went there.



He'd been to Hare Square as a child, but he hadn't realized how pretty the town was. He would have to explore it more once he had time.



At the moment, though, his heir requirements were keeping him busy. He had to pose for his museum portraits...



...and improve upon his skill in mixology.



One day Lipitor's dad came home from work and announced that he'd been promoted to Mad Scientist. It didn't sound to Lipitor like something to be proud of, but it did mean that his dad needed just one more promotion. After that, Lipitor would be able to move out – as soon as he'd finished doing everything he needed to do. He still had to grow a cowplant, and he was afraid his dragonfruit bush would never produce a berry.

[Magpie2012]

@MarianT Azalea could always get some helpers to run the store while she paints landscapes or something to stock it with ;-D

[Nutella]

One thing I haven't mentioned is how I'm picking traits for my heirs. One trait comes from the father, one from the mother, and one is the opposite of a trait that either the father or mother has. So --

Neat.  I am doing almost the same thing, with the exception of the last trait.  I am planning to do a random roll for the last trait. 

[MarianT]

Baird, Week 5

This has been an exciting and exhausting week. Mom almost made it to the top of her job; unfortunately her last promotion also cut back on the number of hours she had to work. But that's okay – we still need to get one more perk at the store. Uncle Gavin has been helping out.



But his biggest help was providing us with epic poems about our lives. Just reading them gave Mom and me a boost of energy so that we could keep the store open a little longer. And the money from his royalties didn't hurt either. Uncle Gavin is making himself a well-deserved drink here.



Uncle Mitch has been learning how to be a DJ now that he doesn't have to spend so much time repairing the plumbing. I had fun watching the images on his video screen – I'd love to have a puppy.



And it would be really cool (pun intended) if we got the right kind of weather for penguins.



To make friends, I formed the Newcrest String Quartet. I was kind of hoping I could get Joaquin to join, but he was busy. And I'd hoped I might pick up some children as members, but I guess they were all at school. So with Maliya and me, it's really a Duo.



I stuck around to give her some pointers, but I have to say, listening was painful. I can't believe that I ever sounded like that. Anyway, my mentoring paid off. I'm now officially a Musical Genius.



After that, I went to the Blue Velvet to see if I could get some tips – and yes, see if Joaquin would show up.



I didn't play the piano long, though. I spotted one of our rivals coming in through the door. Mom had told me about the aliens and their attempt to take over Newcrest. Not on my watch!



We're enemies now. And while I was making Newcrest safe for us Bairds, I went over to "introduce" myself to Lipitor Oirat.



He really has a temper.



And it wasn't long before we got into a fight. I was kind of dazed afterwards.



I went back to the Blue Velvet with the idea of gathering some frogs or crystals for my collection, when who did I see – you guessed it, Joaquin.



He told me a joke about ducks and told me that I really should come and see the ducks in Windenburg.



And then I asked if we could take a selfie together and he said yes! Be still, my beating heart.



Yeah, I've got it bad. But even though I'm madly in love with Joaquin, Dad's still number one in my book. We don't need a special handshake because we've got the bro hug and hip bump.

[KTK10]

I don't normally encourage sims to have enemies, but you have made it look like so much fun! Things are moving along so well