The Arlo Bunch Documentary - Bunch Three

[Tiamet]

Hey there, all my fellow simmers!

Y'all know how much I love using Arlo in my dynasties and such.  So, imagine my surprise when I was playing around with the Sims 3 Not So Berry thing, and decided on Mr Bunch for the third heir's father, had Rose eat all the watermelons, and she still had a boy!  It occurred to me then that I have never seen Arlo father a girl in the wild.  Is he capable of it?  Did the game designers take that much pity on those poor female children?

My curiosity got the better of me and I decided what the heck, this is for Science!  Can't get any funding for it though.

The Arlo Bunch Experiment (Stage One)

For the first part of this project I set the parameters as follows:

Hypothesis: Arlo Bunch can only father male children.

Equipment: One new game in Sunset Valley, three volunteers from my Saved Sims file.

Method:  Arlo is 5 days from teen in a new game.  Load up the three Volunteers, get them set up to have up to 100 children.  As soon as Arlo is legal, move him in and note the percentage of male to female children.  Arlo cannot be tampered with in any way that could influence his wonderful Arlo-ness.

In the interest of brevity, the age up rules are as follows:
Infants - Instant
Toddlers - Talk, Walk, Potty trained
Children -  3 days with an A
Teens - 3 days with an A
YA, out they go, since we need the space.

(If I like the kids or they're doing something fun, I can let them just age up naturally)

Expectation:  All boys.  Many, many shenanigans along the way.  Hopefully we all have some laughs.

Conclusion: To be determined.


The Set Up

First, we need the suckers volunteers.  Rose, from the Berry Bunch, really likes Arlo.  Keeps throwing up wishes to marry him and stuff.  Since she can't get married in that game, we'll let her do it in this one.  Rose is aged down to teen.  Can't have her living on her own so we'll find her some parents.  Zoe Earthmother from the 100 babies was pretty good and Eomer Earling hasn't had a chance to play in a while, so they can be her YA folks.  Here's the happy little family.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

They are so happy!  I used the Family Funds cheat to give them both their LTW of Lap of Luxury and moved them into the Brady Bunch House (Mother Approved)  It's a great set up for kids.  Rose has the red & black hair.  Zoe is dressed for her job at the Bistro for the good fridge and Eomer is registered as a self-employed angler.  Using the points from the LTW and all those great "want to learn" wishes, we invest in a Motive Mobile and a Food Replicator.  Ambrosia coming up.  (You can take the Dynasty away from the Simmer, but you'll never take away that need to have 60 Ambrosia on hand)  While Arlo ages up, Eomer builds up his handiness, Rose learns to be Charismatic and Zoe gardens and cooks. 

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Once Arlo is a Teen, he and Rose become Best Friends.  Arlo is over all the time. 

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Rose is ecstatic. She's also Irresistible and has a Fertility Treatment.  100 kids is a lot and if I have to listen to the kids music through this project, the scientist will be madder than she already is.  Eomer gets his first good look at Arlo and starts to realize why the rest of the Fellowship Sims took one step backwards when asked for a volunteer.

"Really?" he asks Rose.  "This is the guy you've been on the phone with for the past two weeks?"

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

"He's so dreamy," Rose sighs.  Eomer gives the best side-eye I've ever seen.  "Just talk to him," Rose tells him.  "He's such a nice guy, you'll love him."

Eomer does.

"Listen here, boyo, I've got a full toolbox and a shovel.  That's my little girl.  Gimli told me about you, y'know."

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

"That wasn't Arlo, that was Zack," I tell Eomer. 

With everything proceeding along the projected path of the experiment, Arlo becomes a YA and he and Rose have a private wedding in the backyard.  Here are the happy couple at the wedding breakfast.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Arlo loses his tacky, tacky outfit and his Hot Head trait.  For expediency's sake, (and also because I've never seen him without it) he gets Family Oriented instead.  Might as well rack up those happiness points.  We're going to need them.

Now that Arlo is in place, the experiment can begin.  The first pregnancy results in two boys.  The oldest is named Guthrie.  (Ask your grandparents, kids)  All kids will now be named after people at Woodstock/Monterey Pop.  The second boy is Sebastian.  Rose becomes pregnant again immediately.  Sebastian, who has been taught everything he knows by Eomer, is less than impressed with this situation.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Isn't he fantastic?  He inherited that hair and those eyebrows.  I am in awe.  (I only change the kids hair colour if they have that awful green/brown stuff.)

The next birth is a shock.  Rose has a son named Woody, and NotGwendy begged me to call his twin Buzz.  But it turned out that Woody's twin would be called Janis instead.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Conclusion:  Arlo Bunch can father female children.

New Experiment Parameters:  What would be the genetic impact if Sunset Valley was filled with Arlo Bunch descendants.

"Hang on a mo'," Zoe interjects.  "We signed up for one experiment.  And something is causing the replicators to erase all the Ambrosia."

"Come on," I tell her.  "Look at these kids!  I can't stop now, it's just getting good."  Also, I may have dangled an Age Freeze in front of her and Eomer.  I needed them for this.  Why?

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Eomer is an amazing grandfather.  He takes that Family Oriented to new extremes.  For some reason, Rose and Arlo are terrible parents in this file.  Eomer had both twins walking, talking and potty trained within a day.  Rose and Arlo spend all their time making goo goo eyes at each other and giggling together.  They just want to have kids.  Everybody wins.  Zoe rolls her eyes and agrees.  I decide it's time to start taking screenshots of the kids as they age, because this has to be recorded for posterity.

Janis as a child

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Woody as a (very strange) child

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Eomer and Zoe take the grandkids to the Fall Festival.  I think it's hilarious that Rose and Arlo are YA, and Zoe and Eomer are A.  I also decide to augment life in SV with edit town, etc, (wink). 

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

See Alfalfa there on the side?  That's Guthrie. 

With all the new protocols in place, it's time to get going on the second stage.  With space for only four kids at a time it seems best to have them in batches.  The results of this first quartet are stunning.

Guthrie, Teen

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Sebastian, Teen

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Woody, Teen

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Whoops, let fix that:

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Janis, Teen

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

But it's when these Bunch Babies hit Young Adulthood that they really shine!

Guthrie:

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Sebastian:

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Woody:

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Janis:

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

There is a genetic snag in the Arlo line, but it's not the face, believe it or not.  Lisa's Missing Trait Syndrome seems to be present in Janis and Woody.  After some genetic counselling in CAS, making sure that everyone has the Family Oriented trait, and hoping for grandkids, the first four get jobs and LTW, hug Eomer goodbye and head out into the world.  We shall follow them with interest. 

Next time:  Four more Bunches, some fancy footwork, the fate of Judy and Jack and hopefully more story than this set up installment.

[Trip]

I've definitely seen a few Arlo daughters in the Children Born to Original Townies thread and Janis is probably one of the better ones...meanwhile Woody just looks like an AI tried to reverse engineer Connor Frio (you know it in your heart)

[Tiamet]

I've definitely seen a few Arlo daughters in the Children Born to Original Townies thread and Janis is probably one of the better ones...meanwhile Woody just looks like an AI tried to reverse engineer Connor Frio (you know it in your heart)

Great eye, Trip!     It completely slipped my mind that Rose's dad is, indeed, Connor. (I'm not sure how this will skew the experiment, though)

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]


The Arlo Bunch Experiment - Batch Two

Before delving into the delights of the second cohort of Bunch offspring, I must explain about Judy and Jack.  I messed up the timing, and was also not paying enough attention to taking pictures, so I have no photographic evidence, but I hope you will trust me enough to know I wouldn't make this up.

The family threw a Gift Giving Party on Snowflake Day to let the four kids of the first cohort (Guthrie, Sebastian, Woody and Janis) meet their Bunch relations.  Jack, Judy, Ethan, Lisa and Darlene all showed up, making 13 sims in the house.  They all converge in the garage to take advantage to the band equipment.  Darlene plays bass!  I had no idea.  Judy, the sweet thing, took one look at Guthrie and I swear, started pointing and laughing.  The woman who gave birth to Arlo making fun of another sim and her grandson to boot!  Then she dropped dead on the way home!  Didn't even make it to her front door!   Jack lasted another few days, but was gone by the time the kids moved out.

With four spaces again, and Arlo picking up a Fertility Treatment, I admit, I was kind of hoping for triplets.  Instead, the next set of twins are boys, named Crosby and Stills.

Crosby in profile.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Stills as a toddler.  The Arlo is still running strong.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Rose takes an opportunity to announce the next pregnancy to Sebastian, who takes it just about as well as the first one.  He's just glad he doesn't have to potty train anyone.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

It's not like Eomer and Zoe let anybody else near the toddlers.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

In fact, the toddlers age up before the next set are born. 

Crosby

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Stills

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]


While Eomer takes the kids to the library to tutor them up to those A's, Rose goes into labour.  Arlo freaks out and insists on a hospital birth, for some reason.  The twins are born, the first one is a boy called Nash, but then, instead of Neil Young, we get Grace Slick. 

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

With instant aging to toddler, Nash looks a lot like Stills to me

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Grace has that green/brown hair, so she gets a quick dye job.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Eomer continues to show his dedication.  He and Zoe keep throwing wishes to have a child of their own together, Rose having sprung fully formed from the Save Bin, but, alas, the needs of science outweigh the needs of the grandfolks.  Maybe at the end of the experiment?

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

The teen years arrive and Arlo and Rose take a more active role with the kids.  At least once Eomer has tutored each to an A and taught them all how to drive.  The Motive Mobile is a great help with this. 

Crosby

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Stills

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Nash (with advanced Alopecia)

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Grace

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

These are great kids with a lot of personality.  (Yes, I know, they need it)  Crosby and Stills enjoy chess, Grace has many interests including cooking and fishing, and Nash reads constantly.  Stills even gets a girlfriend with no help from me.  That's Shannon Andrews?  Anderson?  Andersomething.  The important thing is that her vision seems to be intact.  Maybe Sunset Valley is ready for an influx of Bunch genes?

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Yeah, Crosby, I agree, I might be a little too optimistic.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Young Adults:

Crosby

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

His traits are: Family Oriented, Friendly, Over Emotional, Loves the Outdoors and Flirty.  His lifetime with is Superstar Athlete and he gets his job at the stadium.

Stills

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Stills' traits are: Excitable, Friendly, Workaholic, Family Oriented and Hopeless Romantic.  Stills' lifetime wish is to be a World Class Surgeon, so he's off to the hospital.

Young Voldemort, sorry, Nash

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

With a face like that, he had to pick up Evil as his YA trait, going along with his Friendly, Excitable, Family Oriented and Bookworm.  He's going to have an interesting career in the Evil Business.  Along with his Evil lifetime wish.  How does an Evil Family Oriented Sim take candy from a baby?  Alas, that is a question for another game.

Grace

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Grace's traits are Friendly, Excitable, Family Oriented, Ambitious and Irresistible.  So of course she wants to be Leader of the Free World.  On her way home from getting her job, she runs into Mortimer Goth.  She manages to go from strangers to convincing him to leave Darlene, (ouch, cutting out her Auntie like that) and full relationship bar as Romantic Interest.  She's Ambitious, alright!  If I had the space and time, I'd try to have her pregnant before she moved out, but alas, alack, no such luck.

Thus far, it looks like Arlo has a 3/4 chance of having a boy.  Stay tuned for the next cohort to see if it changes.  (And Arlo grandbabies!)

[CeresIn]

This is great! I'm going to follow this thread because it's fun to see so many Arlo babies.

[Tiamet]

This is great! I'm going to follow this thread because it's fun to see so many Arlo babies.

That's the one thing we definitely have, CeresIn, lots of Arlo babies!  (And grandbabies now)

The Arlo Bunch Documentary - Batch Three

I've decided to rename this since I feel like David Attenborough or something, documenting what's happening in the wild.  Arlo's kids are apparently a hot commodity in Sunset Valley, defying all expectations.  To catch up with the older kids, Sebastian married Monika Morris, Guthrie settled in with Shannon Anderson, Woody and River Irish were an item until she passed on, and Janis was snapped up by Hank Goddard.  Stills was working too hard at becoming a surgeon, it seems, but the other three found love quite quickly.  Grace married Mortimer Goth, Nash and Jayme Anderson (Shannon's sister) got together, and Crosby met Olga Aguirre.

The next set of twins were Neil and Jimi. 

Neil (looking like he'll live up to his namesake)

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Jimi

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

They aged up about as well as you'd expect and began bonding over what was becoming bedlam in the house. Arlo will not leave Rose alone.  I'm serious, she'll be in the red for sleep, bathroom and hunger, eleventy months pregnant with twins and all he wants is to flirt with her.  Won't even let the poor girl get a snack in. 

The next set of twins were a boy and a girl.  Arlo's 3/4 ratio seems to be a stable thing. 

Richie

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Baby Mama Cass

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

In between all the tutoring and teaching the toddlers to walk and stuff, Eomer, who is best friends with every kid born in the house, got a call to go visit Janis.  Surprise!

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Janis and Hank Goddard had a baby boy named Cedrick, of all things.  Janis and Hank had a bit of a bizarre relationship.  Or maybe I've just led a sheltered life.  Grim showed up for Ol' Hank while Janis was still expecting, but he took pity on him and let him live to see the birth.  But he and Janis split before Cedrick was born.  Janis didn't let single motherhood slow her down at all, she's still working at the science lab.  Hank lived long enough to get married again!  Janis then married Malcolm Landgrab.   

Meanwhile, Richie and Cass aged up to children.  Here they all are as kids.

Neil

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Jimi

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Richie

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Cass

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Remember how I said that the Arlo kids were hot tickets?  Just in case you had any doubts, here is a photo from the kids trip to the Fall Festival. 

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

That up there, in the lip lock?  That's Nash, aka, Young Voldemort, with his bride Jayme. 

Eomer is just as invested in the grandbabies as he is the regular babies.  He goes over to spend some time with Cedrick, while getting notified that Grace and Mortimer Goth have had a little girl they call Kate, and Nash and Jayme also have a daughter called Janie.

Here's Eomer with Cedrick, after teaching him to walk.  I don't think he can help himself at this point, he just sees a child, he starts teaching it something.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Everyone ages up to teens.

Neil

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Jimi

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Richie

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Cass

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

They all discover they have guitars and the house is full of the sound of jamming.  Since some of the pressure of timing is off, now that the experiment is exploring how the Arlo descendants do in Sunset Valley, I let the teens have a week or so, instead of tutoring like mad and getting them out as quickly as possible.  They don't get the chance to meet any of the other related kids in school though.  I'm hoping that will happen in the next cohort, since I skip the infant stage all together.   Here are some of the new Arlo grandkids.

Eomer with child Cedrick.  (While tutoring Richie)

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Eomer with toddler Kate.  I looked all over that mansion and couldn't find baby Erick, who Grace and Mortimer had had by now.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Rose with Nash and Jayme's little girl.  Rose went to a party and scooped up Janie so I took a few quick pictures.  Jayme was pregnant again.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Crosby and Olga were expecting their first.  This is a little boy called Colin.  I will not be able to find a picture of him for some time, his special skill seems to be evading the documentary filmmaker.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

There is a little drama one night when Cass is out playing for tips at the theatre.  She's trying to get the LTHP for a Fertility Treatment before she ages out.  She has a quick visit with Grace, Kate and Erick, and Grace is now pregnant with her next kid.  Grace has kicked Mortimer to the curb by now and married Byron Dorsey, who seems a bit of a wet blanket.  In the midst of all this, Jayme goes into labour right in front of her and Cass misses curfew.  Jayme gives birth to her and Nash's third child, (I missed the birth of little Clark somehow) and it's another boy, called Sammy.  Young Voldemort is definitely living up to his Family Oriented trait.  The whole situation obviously makes an impact on Cass, influencing her career choice later on.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

She gets in trouble with Eomer as soon as the door opens.  It's the first time anyone has been in trouble with the law!  Cass is usually such a good kid.  Is Eomer being a little too hard on her, perhaps?  Just look at that face!

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Eomer lets her off the hook almost immediately.  This sim, I mean, his first social with any of the kids is "hug".  (I love him so much.  Zoe, Rose and Arlo will be flailing around with the toddlers and he just wades right in.  He's the guy that when everything gets out of hand you say, "Eomer, get in there and sort this mess out.")

At last, everyone in this bunch became a Young Adult.

Neil

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Neil's traits are Brave, Friendly, Virtuoso, Artistic and Family Oriented.  His LTW was Golden Voice/Fingers and he's working in the music business.

Jimi

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Jimi's traits are Excitable, Friendly, Virtuoso, Family Oriented and Ambitious.  No, I don't know why his nose is like that.  After looking at all the Arlo noses in this cohort, he looks so weird to me.  Jimi wanted to be a 5 star chef from the day he got his toy oven, so he was off to the Bistro for his job.

Richie

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Richie's traits are Dramatic, Friendly, Artistic, Daredevil, and Family Oriented.  He also has the most ginormous chin.  I wonder what he'd look like with a beard?  Anyway, he was off to become a teacher and Live In The Lap Of Luxury.  (Also, he's the first one of his group to get married, to Susan Rains)

Cass

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Cass' traits are Loves the Outdoors, Family Oriented, Virtuoso, Friendly and Irresistible.  If Confidence was a trait, our girl would have it, too.  She heads off to join the law career, just in time for Rose to be expecting again.