Doom by the Numbers, Chapter 2.5

Back to the cold wintry world of the apocalypse… Hopefully things will get a little bit brighter soon.

Chryseis has been locked in the bathroom with the exploding toilet for months now. Fortunately, she finally gets to come out.

Here are the kids in all their random clothing glory.

“Shaun? She’s home. Get over here.”

Future mother-in-law from hell?

Torgny and Cainneach decided a snowball fight was in order. Rina headed in for a quick potty break before her fiance arrived.

Rina greeted Shaun with a kiss, then wiped her mouth. That had still been kind of meh.

“So, here’s the ring. Isn’t it cool? I found it in a Crackerjack box.”

“But you’re loaded! Why are you getting rings out of Cracker Jack boxes?”

“No stores.”

Paring down Shaun’s inventory turned out to be difficult. He had a lot of big, expensive, heavily restricted items. I was able to fit everything in on the roof except for the three biggest items, which Shaun will keep in inventory. The blocked half of the roof is pretty much full, though.

They have, I think, 4 re-nu-yu chugs on the roof – on the accessible part, since they’re not restricted. So Shaun drank one, bumping his relationship with Rina up to two bolts.

While I wasn’t paying attention to him, Cainneach had wandered upstairs and loaded up SSX 3. Which is…not restricted! Shaun is a Mad Scientist, so the Science restrictions are now lifted. Sims can have lights and TVs, and have full use of the computer on Tuesdays from noon to midnight.

Still, Cainneach has to stop playing his game and find a job. Since he has the computer, he’ll have his choice of any of the five jobs, but he must take one of them (unless they’re all previously lifted or restricted, but that’s not very likely).  Torgny will also be taking one of the five available jobs. Rina is not looking for a job yet; she’ll start her job search next Tuesday.

The available jobs are… *drumroll*

Education (boo, already lifted)

Adventure (hooray! Yippee!)

Paranormal (well, that would have benefits, I suppose…)

Politics (boo, restricted)

and…

Medicine! (I actually got out of my chair and jumped up and down.)

Cainneach took the job in Medicine, because if his mother can go to work in a helicopter, gosh darn it, they ought to be able to have showers.

Torgny took the Adventure position. Sadly, he didn’t start until Friday. They both started at level 8, though, so hopefully these should be quick lifts.

I got them a second computer, since that’s allowed now that Science is lifted. It’ll still just be a typewriter for most of the week, but they can definitely use two typewriters.

“So then I graduated with honors, and…”

“That’s nice, Rina, but I was told there would be woohoo.”

Shaun here is a Romance sim. Since Education is lifted, I was able to give him a secondary aspiration and rolled Knowledge. Fortunately, his LTW to top Athletic is achievable, and he’s already at the top of his career and can start the job search right away.

They still had some Tuesday left, and so the boys made sure to use their phone time to call up their college friends.

I got them a tv! Now they can fulfill all of those “watch movie” wants.

“So, Rina, success?”

“No, it’s like we have a dark cloud over us. We tried twice, and no lullaby! And now Shaun has to go to work!”

Chryseis makes $5000 a day. Also, she gets home at the same time Shaun leaves, which is probably a good thing, as Shaun is one of her college lovers.

Not even midnight yet, and the boys are back to work on writing more bestselling novels.

Rina chowed down on a couple of burgers and watched a movie with Chryseis while waiting for Shaun to come home. They had to keep trying for a baby, which meant everyone in the house had to stay up until they were successful.

“Well, that was a third failure. Shall we try again?”

“One more time?”

“Oh, Shaun, I’m so tired.”

“Fifth time’s the charm!”

It wasn’t.

Finally, on their sixth woohoo, they got a lullaby.

(I was desperate to get things started because, y’know, my whole apocalypse kind of depends on Rina having a daughter. That’s why she didn’t get a job yet – because for her, having babies is way more important than lifting a career.)

Finally, at about 6 am, everyone could go to bed.

Chryseis moved up to the 3rd floor isolation room, but didn’t get to bed until after dawn because it took me a while to figure out I’d left the door locked.

“Got to get all clean for my first day of work!”

In a historic moment, the eldest Gen 2 sim headed off to work, to bring us showers.

“Finger guns!”

When unlocking the Science career, Shaun also invented the Energizer!

“Hmm, I don’t know, is this thing safe?”

“You invented it, you should know. I’m using it after you, if you survive.”

Yeah, all that woohoo kind of tuckered them out.

Shaun checked the paper for an athletic job, but no dice. Today the available job was Intelligence. He immediately recycled the paper, because I would love an Intelligence lift, but it would be against the Unemployment Office rules for Rina to take the job after Shaun looked at the paper. (Yes, it’s true that Torgny was the second one to look at jobs when he got his, but I figured it’s fair since he and Cainneach were both looking for their lift jobs.)

Since Torgny had two days off, he pretty much spent Wednesday and Thursday chained to the computer, writing novels. They don’t need the money, or the creativity, but it keeps them out of trouble.

No promotion today, although his progress bar did move up. Cainneach got a horrible chance card. One choice had an 84% chance of the “good” outcome of nothing happening, and a 15% chance of getting fired.  The other had an 84% chance of losing $5,000, and a 15% chance of gaining about the same amount. It was really a no brainer – Cainneach took the $5,000 hit.

Shaun moved in with only 3 body points. He’ll need 10 of them for his LTW career of Athletic, and also if he ever wants to leave the lot again, so he took up yoga.

So nice having the second computer.

This is the disadvantage of maxing skills in college – bored sims. Still, I’d rather have the maxed skills.

Always sad when a sim burns the nightly hamburgers. Still, since the fenced-off roof area is full, I’m not storing them anymore, so there’s that.

“So, I got married.”

“Oh, is it that guy I’ve seen around?”

“Sure is.”

“Cool.”

Bump #1!

“I hope it’s a girl in there.”

Me too.

“Bills and the phone’s still out? Must be Thursday.”

Shaun wanted to study Lifetime Happiness, so I set him to it. Torgny wanted to study…I don’t know, relationship fixing or something. Whatever.

“Hey, I brought a friend home!”

You didn’t get a promotion. That’s 2 days without a promotion.

“But I brought a friend home!”

Cainneach wrote a bestselling novel, putting him into platinum!

I sent him to bed immediately, and never mind that it was only 7:30 pm.

“Yay, you kept my toilet!”

Huh? He died on a Monday, and since the beds are replaced every Monday morning he never slept in the new ones, but…the toilet?

“Ack! A ghost! Oh, hey, you’re my daddy!”

I don’t know what’s wrong with Rina’s eyes here.

I’m having flashbacks to RoseFyre’s apocalypse, in which her founder died early and ended up killing two of his children. Maybe I should have had one of the boys take that Paranormal job.

Fortunately, Ben drifted around quietly for the remainder of the night.

Looks like Torgny will be going to his first day of work platinum!

Either Chryseis or Shaun checks the paper every day. Shaun’s looking for his Athletic job, Chryseis is keeping an eye out for Criminal, to supress the payments. They’re at $750 per week right now, which is pretty much nothing, but it would give Chryseis something useful to do.

One more day!

Cainneach went to work platinum on Friday, so he was really hoping a promotion was in the works.

Chryseis only works 3 days a week, so the rest of the time, she gets to do whatever she wants until her grandbaby arrives – even if she wants to stick her foot through the wall.

Torgny got a promotion!

And went right back to work.

Cainneach finally got a promotion! Sadly, he had the weekend off and didn’t go back in until Monday. He’d better hope for a promotion Monday or Tuesday, because if he doesn’t top the career by Tuesday he has to stay an extra week.

Um, Cainneach, he has the same face as your father. That’s kind of creepy.

Still, Ethan Barrett is the first guy Cainneach has had any boltage with at all.

I was so hoping Torgny would lift Adventure tonight, but alas, it was not to be, thanks to another terrible chance card. On the one hand, he had an 84% chance of earning $15k and a 15% chance of getting fired; on the other hand, he had a 15% chance of promotion to Space Pirate and an 84% chance of demotion back to level 8. I really want that Adventure lift, so I decided to take the demotion so he didn’t have a risk of getting fired.

Fortunately, Torgny had work again on Saturday.

Once again, I sent everyone to bed early to keep their aspirations up, so soon Torgny was off to work again.

“Mom? I think it’s time.”

“OMG OMG OMG!”

“Chryseis, where’s Cainneach?”

“Why would we want Cainneach?”

“He’s a doctor, isn’t he?”

“What does being a doctor have to do with having a baby?”

“Oh boolprop this hurts!”

“Well, I was hoping for a girl, but you’re a cute little guy, aren’t you?”

Yes, the firstborn was a boy again. He was named Binyamin.

“Here, Shaun, hold your son.”

This is Olli, who is also the wrong gender for heirship.

*sigh* I was actually really happy when I saw it was twins, since I figured I had a pretty good chance of getting at least one girl and being done with the baby having. But no, the game knows this is a matriarchy and is making it difficult for me.

“So we have to have another one, huh?”

“Until we get a girl, yes.”

“Darn it.”

Only took 3 tries for a lullaby this time.

I debated whether to have them try right away. There are only two cribs, and not much space for more. But I really want Rina to get a job on Tuesday, and this way she should have the baby on Tuesday afternoon and be able to use the computer to get a job afterward – if it’s a girl, that is. If it’s a boy, I might have her wait another week.

Torgny got promoted back to level 9! Once again, he went straight back to work. With luck, maybe Rina will be able to have Jumbok as a friend during this pregnancy.

Cainneach went back to his novel writing, so Chryseis was left to care for the twin spares.

Since Generation 3 is here, that’s it for this chapter! Tune in next time to see if Rina and Shaun will manage a proper heir, and if either of the boys will ever top their careers.

Restriction lifted this chapter: Science, at 44 days, by Shaun (Goss) Random

Doom by the Numbers, Chapter 2.4

So once upon a time I started an apocalypse, lifted a couple  of careers, posted a few chapters, and wandered away from it. Then the other day I accidentally opened a chapter, and said to myself, “Self, you should get back to that apocalypse.” So, here it is, the most boring college chapter ever.

Torgny (left) and Rina (right) arrived at uni first, both growing up in blue.

They built this lovely house, which is pretty much exactly like the house back home, but on a smaller lot.

Then Rina and Torgny went into the bathroom, and I locked them in.

Once they were safely inside, I moved in eldest child Cainneach. Cainneach has the flu, so he has to remain in isolation until he’s cured.

Since it’s a college house and doesn’t have to have space for babies and such, the kids can spread out a bit. Rina has the basement all to herself.

The first floor is where sims will spend most of their time. It’s got the kitchen and everything necessary for skilling.

The second room has a bedroom for Cainneach. Torgny will eventually have a bedroom, too (so spacious! Private 3×4 bedrooms!) but they ran out of money, so the second floor will have to be built up 2 wall segments at a time.

The 3rd floor is empty for now. Hopefully, as restrictions are unlocked, future generations can have some fun stuff up here.

Poor Cainneach. Stupid flu.

The computer’s going to be in high demand for term papers and skilling creativity, so I rolled to see who got to use it first. Cainneach won, which is good since he can’t do much else in his little isolation room.

Fortunately, he was cured after a little while and was able to rejoin civilization…such as it is.

By the way, majors were rolled for randomly. Rina, obviously, is a Biology major. Cainneach is a Psychology major, and Torgny is an Art major.

“So when we get home, what wish do you want to make on the genie lamp?”

“Torgny, do we have to drag in someone new to explain to you that there is no genie lamp?”

Life consisted of term papers…

Maxing skills…

And of course, eating hamburgers.

Walkbys were befriended, while cheerleaders did their best to freeze to death in the snow.

Rina selected her future spouse.

After days of painstaking work, adding wall segments and painting them two at a time, the second floor was finally completed.

Torgny finished maxing all his skills, and now has nothing to do but sit around looking bored.

Everyone got perfect grades, naturally, because there wasn’t anything to do but study. Fortunately, the professors don’t take points off for stink.

Also, Torgny rerolled his aspiration after sophomore year, and is now a Popularity/Romance sim with a LTW to top the Law Enforcement career.

This brings us up to where I played last summer, the beginning of senior year.

Occasionally the kids do get to have fun, mostly because they complain if their fun bars get too low.

Cainneach only has a couple of charisma points left to max all his skills.

“If one of us gets to lift Medical, I am never washing my hands again.”

As a reminder, I’m using the Unemployment Office handicap, so I don’t know what the kids will be lifting yet.

Rina only has 2 logic points to go to max all her skills!

Torgny got food poisoning. Apparently it’s all Cainneach’s fault.

It’s the second day of the first semester of the year, so we’ll call it Tuesday.

“Well, that was all right, I guess,” Rina thought after her first kiss.

Still, she had responsibilities.

“So, you made my mom a promise, years ago. So after I graduate, will you marry me and help out with the Apocalypse?”

“Oh yeah, I did promise that. Um, are we going to have a lot of kids?”

“Hopefully just two, as long as one’s a girl.”

“Well, all right, then. Call me when you get home, I guess.”

Rina finished maxing all her skills.

Torgny recovered from his food poisoning and made a friend.

1 semester to go!

Torgny started on his last term paper right away.

There’s always plenty of red hands in this family.

The computer is pretty much constantly occupied while the kids do their term papers.

Apparently I missed the pop-up, but Cainneach maxed his creativity! That’s all three kids with max skills!

All three kids are really fantastic plumbers. Like, the best ever.

It occurred to me that Lifetime Happiness would probably be good to know, so the kids studied that while waiting for the semester to be over.

Rina does about 12 assignments each semester. Even after her class bar is full. It keeps her happy, so whatever.

The three kids wrote a total of 11 novels during their time in college. Cainneach wrote I Will Never Love, No Fun Here, No Love, and Empty Bellies. Torgny wrote Snow Day, Cold as Bone, Who Will Save Us, and What Will I Do. Rina wrote Try to be Happy, Arranged Marriage, and What I Never Had.

Graduation happened at midnight. All 3 kids graduated summa cum laude.

There will be no party, of course.

Rina and Torgny got in one last game of red hands as Cainneach called a cab.

 He grew up in PJs, so you’ll have to wait to see his outfit. Looks like a doozy.

“Bye, Cainneach! See you soon!”

You can’t really see the massive belly strip, but trust me, it’s there.

I think Rina got the best outfit of the bunch. Cargo pants are utilitarian, and the pink sweater will help her feel girly.

Finally, the awesome university experience is over! Tune in next time to see what restrictions will be lifted.

Doom by the Numbers, Chapter 2.3

As promised, here’s another update on the Random family!

Chryseis comes home with a promotion every day. I don’t really care – they have tons of money that they can’t spend on anything. The only reason she has a job is to keep her fed and out of the house.

Work out, sponge bathe, work out, sponge bathe…I do hate those first three body points.

Hooray! Cainneach has reserved his spot on the college bus – assuming the three of them get enough scholarships between them to build a house.

“I’m doing my best, Ben. I think the kids are doing okay. Sometimes I think it would be better to stay home with them – but then they wouldn’t have that extra hamburger on the dinner platter.”

Rina’s been encouraged up to 6 neat points, which means she’s a little better with the hygiene bar than the boys – she only spends 90% of her waking hours handwashing, rather than 95%.

It occurs to me that all early apocalypse sims would appear to have severe OCD to an outside observer.

Snow Day! Congratulations, Torgny, that means you get to hold that position for the next 8 hours while your brother and sister play chess.

It’s also Tuesday, so Chryseis invites over some potential future spouses.

“I’m going to marry one of you someday. Then you can use our grill to make hamburgers!”

“Um, great, kid.”

Jan and Shaun have the exact same job, and yes, Rina will be marrying one of them. Any guesses what the job is?

“Guys, guys, when we get to use the genie lamp, we should wish for unlimited wishes.”

“Torgny, would you shut up about the darn genie lamp already? We keep telling you it doesn’t exist!”

“It’s snowing? That’s so weird! I can’t believe it would be snowing in the middle of eternal winter! Also, I was just voted the world’s most beautiful woman, or something.”

My kids are lucky – they get to skill out of books – but they still spend a lot of time at the chess board.

Now that Cainneach has max body, he can get a job. He was very lucky – Education was the first job in the paper, which means he won’t be locked out of a liftable career later.

The next day is another snow day – 2nd in a row! Torgny uses the opportunity to max his body. He can’t get a job quite yet, though – has to wait until Rina is a teenager.

Even though school’s closed, there are still playgrounds to be monitored, so Cainneach heads off for his first day of work.

Chryseis got old. 😦 I can see by the dopey expression where Pinstar got the idea of senile elders. Still, I think she makes a pretty good looking elder, although I’m not a fan of the orange pajamas.

Finally, school, hooray! Only for 1 day, as it’s Friday.

I love Rina’s outdoor outfit, even though it would probably not be warm enough for nuclear winter.

I like Chryseis’s outdoor outfit, too. We’ll probably never see her everyday outfit; judging by her thumbnail, that’s probably for the best.

Chryseis heads off to work. She’s still the most beautiful woman in the world.

“Dad! Dad! We got A’s, Dad!”

*sniffle*

His 2nd day of work, Cainneach gets a promotion!

Because of his Pleasure aspiration, Cainneach is never, ever platinum. He stays in low to mid green pretty much on the strength of “talk about hobby” alone. He may not even manage to top his career by Tuesday, and he has to go to college on Tuesday if he’s going to go at all.

Usually all the kids do their own homework, but tonight only, Torgny does 96% of Rina’s homework.

Unfortunately, finishing that last 4% is not quite enough to get her platinum. Oh, well, it’s birthday time anyway!

Outfit: Bland but acceptable

Aspiration: Knowledge/Family, not bad at all for the heir.

LTW: Top Dance, probably achievable after she’s done with her lift.

Best thing about this birthday: No more smelly kids!

Boo.

Wait…wait…where’s he going?

Hooray! Best burglar ever!

Oh noes! The chess set! *shrugs* *replaces*

Bye Mr. Burglar! Thanks for shopping!

“We were robbed! Robbed!”

Two thirds of the stuff he took was just sitting out on the lawn. I mean, if you leave a big screen tv on your lawn, aren’t you kind of asking for it?

Rina went to bed right after her birthday, so when she got up in the morning she spent about 4 hours washing her hands. The downside of not being able to sponge bathe.

By some extremely bizarre luck, Torgny also scores a job in Education. Either that, or my game is glitched.

(I miss acne cream.)

That afternoon, the Knowledge sims sit down directly and work on their homework, even though it’s Friday.

While the boys are at work, Rina gets those first 3 body points and moves on to yoga.

The kids spend their weekend skilling away. Scholarships! *whip crack*

And Cainneach has earned all the skilling scholarships he can get! Hooray!

What shall he do with the rest of his teen years? How about more skilling?

Rina maxes her body Saturday afternoon, less than 48 hours after becoming a teen. Yay stuck Smart Milk effect!

Only job in the paper is Entertainment. It requires creativity, which Rina has no way to earn, so no dice.

Why can’t teens write novels, anyway? I wrote stuff when I was a teen. It was mostly crap full of Mary Sues, yes (my writing hasn’t changed that much), but still.

“So, mom, are you going to miss us when we all go off to college?”

“Oh, I’m sure it will only seem like a moment to me before you’re back.”

Handwashing, red hands, hamburgers, sleep, skilling. I hope at least one of these kids uses their lift to unlock something fun. (Although showers would be better. Showers…)

Torgny’s got his scholarships! Fortunately, unlike Cainneach, he wants to do some more skilling.

Snow day? Seriously?

Cainneach, shut up, you don’t even know what a violin is.

At least Chryseis gets to go to work. Although apparently she’s not the most beautiful woman in the world anymore. *sad*

Skill, my minions! Skill! *whip crack*

Good job, Rina. I take my attention off you for one second…I was going to have you make a nice plate of hamburgers.

“Tired of hamburgers. Rather have cookies.”

Well, I can’t say that I blame you.

And Rina’s got all her scholarships! Except the job scholarship – she tried one more time, and it was Culinary, which also requires creativity. So she gets to wallow in laziness.

“Wallow in laziness? I have 50 skill points, and I just grew up to teen 4 days ago!”

Cainneach got a chance card, and did poorly. He was supposed to get fired, but he just got demoted. Doesn’t matter, though – today’s his last day of work. No Young Entrepreneur scholarship for him, either.

Chryseis brought home another promotion!

Also, the flu.

&$@)^!

She’s immediately sent up to the 3rd floor, which is turned into a lovely little isolation room…

But Cainneach is sick, too, probably from sharing the carpool. Stupid chance card.

Frammit, he’s supposed to go to college tomorrow!

He’s sent promptly to bed so he can’t interact with anyone.

Hey, look who actually managed to top a teen career! Go Torgny!

Chryseis is cured! Hooray!

As soon as he wakes up, Cainneach is moved into the quarantine room. Don’t worry, I slide a rotten hamburger under the door now and then.

Tuesday is another snow day, so the kids spend the morning getting some last minute skilling in.

As soon as the clock hits noon, Torgny’s on the phone applying for scholarships. He earns $6250 – grades, job, and 6 skill scholarships.

Rina’s up next. $5500 for her – same scholarships as Torgny, minus the job.

After they’re both safely in the uni bin, it’s Cainneach’s turn. I was so hoping he would be cured before it was time to leave, but no luck. He gets $5500, same as Rina.

Poor Chryseis gets locked in the bathroom while her last child goes off to college – I do not want to have to deal with the flu when they all get back.

Don’t worry, Chryseis, they’ll be back in about 5 minutes by your clock.

And that’s it for this chapter! Next up: the most boring uni chapter in history.

Doom by the Numbers, Chapter 2.2

 Welcome back to the Random Family!

 At the end of the last chapter, 2nd generation heiress Rina had just been born.

“Say ‘bottle’, Torgny!”

“No! Don’ wanna!”

Once Torgny learns all his toddler skills, Chryseis turns her attention to her elder son. She has 9 neat points, but Ben only has 2, so naturally both boys only ended up with 2 neat points. 2 neat points + handwashing at a 5 hygiene sink = absolutely nothing. Cainneach is encouraged up to 4 – still not much better than useless, but it’ll leave him able to take sponge baths when he’s older.

“Wow. Maybe, just maybe, this is actually doing something.”

If you can keep kids platinum, you only have to get a sliver of hygiene on the bar for them to be able to do other things. If they’re not platinum, though, they’re pretty much useless.

“Daddy, Daddy, you’re home! Mommy’s making me wash my hands over and over!”

“Well, son, maybe you’d best get back to that. You stink.”

Cainneach gets a little skilling in, but only a little.

“So, Mommy, when are you going to have another baby?”

“Rina’s the last baby, Cainneach. If I have any more, there might not be enough food for us all.”

Ben had gone to work that day with his hunger bar in orange. No problem, he thought, it wasn’t that low, and he’d get fed at work. But then he got a chance card. Although he successfully came out of it with a promotion, he was sent home early, before the dinner break.

He tried to hurry inside to the hamburgers on the counter, but he was just so hungry. He fell to his knees.

RIP, Benjamin Long. You produced 3 lovely kids, lifted the Military restriction, and endured all the hardships of being the founder’s spouse without a complaint. You will be missed.

 Chryseis pushed aside her own grief and did her best to comfort her sons.

Little Rina was too young to be affected by Ben’s death, but it hurt to know she would grow up not even remembering her father.

But life had to go on. The next day, after much snuggling and tickling to get his aspiration back up, it was time for Torgny’s birthday.

“Hooray, I’m big!” Torgny cried, checking out his larger hands and then clapping them in excitement.

“Oh, boy! You got the best pajamas too!”

It was also Rina’s birthday! She grew into an adorable toddler, although Chryseis was a bit disappointed that she couldn’t see whether Rina had inherited the elf ears.

Rina got her dose of Smart Milk and was promptly sent off to play with the bunny head.

“I love snow, don’t you, Cainneach?”

“Yeah! I hope it snows every single day, our whole lives.”

For 2nd gen apocalypse kids, Cainneach and Torgny have a pretty cheerful outlook.

Chryseis had offered to buy Torgny his own bed, but he said he preferred to share. Chryseis decided she didn’t mind – the poor boy had lost his father, after all, and it wasn’t as if Chryseis had anyone else she wanted in the bed.

The next day, Cainneach came down with food poisoning! Chryseis was beside herself with worry. In a normal world with proper medical care, this would be nothing, but here…she could lose her son, too.

Of course, in a normal world, Cainneach would have never needed to eat the rotten hamburger that got him sick.

Torgny, meanwhile, loved playing peek-a-boo with his little sister, just as Cainneach had played peek-a-boo with him.

Then he headed off for his first day of school, pleased that he had an acceptable outfit.

That afternoon, Chryseis taught Torgny to study. Cainneach rested on the couch. Stupid food poisoning.

That night, Ben’s ghost haunted for the first time.

(I’m not really sure why I felt the need to get them a table and chairs. It cluttered up space in the living room, and was moved out of the way within a couple of days.)

Ben scared Torgny and Chryseis, but fortunately left Cainneach alone.

The next morning, Chryseis worked on encouraging Torgny up to 4 neat points as well.

“Dad! Dad! I got an A! Isn’t that great?”

This is so sad.

 Cainneach had stayed home from school – he had never gotten his homework done the night before. Kids lose a grade level whether they go with undone homework or don’t go at all, so if a kid doesn’t get their homework done, it’s better to keep them home and have them do it. They get a grade drop either way, and if they go to school they get another homework assignment they have to do.

At least he finally recovered from his food poisoning while he was home.

 “Now, Torgny, being neat is very important.”

“I can’t learn about being neat! Can’t you see I’m filthy?”

I get some weird graphical glitches in my game. This one actually works quite well – looks like a bunny head they found in the remains of a burnt out building.

Ah, Red Hands, the sport of filthy apocalypse children everywhere.

Birthday time! Cainneach grew up into a very interesting outfit. He’s a Pleasure sim with a secondary aspiration of Popularity, and wants to be a Professional Party Guest.

*sigh* He’s going to be so miserable.

And it’s Rina’s birthday! No more toddlers!

Guess what’s for dinner, kids? Hamburgers!

Still haven’t gotten rid of that stupid table.

Now that there’s a teenager in the house, Chryseis decides she needs another job – she’s been unemployed since she got pregnant with Cainneach, and she needs to get out of the house. There’s a position in Show Business, so she snatches it up.

Meanwhile, Cainneach enjoys his very first sponge bath. Ah, the sweet relief of finally being free from hygiene desperation!

Chryseis begins the hard work of encouraging neatness in Rina, who also has only 2 neatness points, of course. Rina will be encouraged up to 6 neatness points, so she can encourage her own children someday.

Rina also gets a decent school outfit! They’ve all been very lucky with their clothing choices – even Cainneach’s teen outfit seems oddly appropriate for the apocalypse.

Hey, it’s Athena Fine, stealing the newspaper! Hi, Athena!

(I’ve got a few reconstructed Fines hanging out in the neighborhood. And that’s the teenage version of Larisa Pavlov back there, from my BACC.)

Poor Torgny. He clearly wants a daddy so bad. But the rules prohibit it.

Cainneach starts working on his body points. Getting 10 body points will be the top priority for all the kids once they get to teen, since I want to send them to college.

Fortunately, Larisa was friends with Cainneach by the time she got cold, so he was able to let her inside to warm up.

The next morning, Chryseis heads off to work in the infamous french fry costume. Rina clearly disapproves.

Snow day! The kids were left to their own devices while Chryseis was at work. Torgny and Rina got to know each other better, while Cainneach…

Cainneach! I see you just standing there! Go take a sponge bath so you can get back to working on your body points!

“Guys! Guys! Did you know there’s a magic lamp on the roof?”

“That’s stupid, Torgny,” Rina said, scowling. “Everybody knows there’s no magic until Paranormal is lifted.”

When Chryseis gets home, I have mercy on her and tell her to do a little yoga.

Meanwhile, Cainneach can also do yoga! He doesn’t need the stereo anymore, yay! The stereo makes sims stinky so fast; yoga is much better.

“And so that’s how you study. Do you understand everything, sweetheart?”

“Yeah, mom, I got it, ok?” Rina said, walking away.

Birthday time for Torgny! He rolls knowledge, with a secondary aspiration of popularity, and wants to top journalism.

He’s immediately sent to the stereo. Poor thing, he’s got to work out in a leotard.

“It’s a unitard! It’s very manly.”

Uh-huh.

Anyway, that seems like a good place to end this chapter. Tune in next time!

Doom by the Numbers, Chapter 2.1

When we last left the Random family, they had just had a little boy, Cainneach.

Since this is a matriarchy, though, they need a girl. So after putting Cainneach in his brand new crib, Benjamin and Chryseis headed down to their bed to make another baby.

I would think having a door through the midsection would make anyone sick, pregnant or not.

Obligatory pop pic

Chryseis burned the hamburgers for the first time ever. How sad.

When she’s not taking care of Cainneach, Chryseis spends most of her time writing novels.

Meanwhile, Ben is almost there! Just one promotion to go, and then his little Cainneach and the nooboo on the way will be able to go to college.

Cainneach grows up, and gets elf ears! Hooray! He also has Daddy Ben’s nose, which I personally rather like.

 Cainneach gets a precious bottle of Smart Milk, and learns some skills. Got to get those 4 aspiration points so he can get his need perks.

“Bye, honey, I’m off to work! Hopefully I’ll have good news for you when I come home!”

Chryseis, washing her hands at the sink, didn’t answer.

Chryseis turned as he left, but just managed to hold back her cries of pain until the door closed behind her husband. It was far more important for him to go to work, even if it meant not being there when she gave birth.

 Moments later, she held her second son in her arms. He was named Torgny. Chryseis fell in love with him at once, but she couldn’t help being a little discouraged; she had hoped to only have two children, and now she would need to have another. And if that child was another boy…well, that could be a problem.

Ben did indeed come home that night with a promotion to General, lifting the Military restriction.

Sims may now go to community lots, invite people over even if they’re not in love with them, move out, and go to college. They can walk to work as well (as long as they have 10 body, while Law Enforcement is in effect).

Since it was Tuesday, Chryseis got on the phone to tell all her friends about Ben’s accomplishment.

She did get off the phone in time to make baby #3, though.

Ben got demoted back to astronaut, and found he didn’t really mind. His accomplishments would still stand.

With Ben gone at work so much, and Chryseis trying to take care of a toddler and a baby while pregnant, she found herself getting a little overwhelmed.

Fortunately, Cainneach grew up into a child that night.

Even though they bought him a bed, Cainneach was too tired to make it there, instead falling asleep on his feet.

After Cainneach was packed off to bed, Torgny received one last bath before being tossed into toddlerhood.

I like to leave a baby’s last diaper dirty and give them a bath right before they grow up. That way, you can potty train them and let them use the potty, and have a diaper change in reserve for when the hygiene drops down to the bottom. They can usually get through their toddlerhood that way.

Torgny got his one bottle of Smart Milk.

(The elixir glitched and refilled at some point. Chryseis drank it back down, and then I used the Sim Blender to put her back where she should be.)

Cainneach adored playing peek-a-boo with his little brother, and often had to be called away so that Torgny could spend time with his bunny head.

Cainneach skilled as much as he could, when he wasn’t tending his Fun and Hygiene demons.

I was happy to see that his school clothes were quite decent.

“MAAAAAAAMAAAAAAAA! Lemme OOOOOOUUUUUUUT!”

Mama’s busy paying the bills and getting frostbite on her toes, Torgny.

 

“Brudder in belly?”

I certainly hope not.

More toddler picspam. What can I say? The kid’s cute.

“What? I got a C? Aw, nertz.”

Just be glad you can learn to study, kid. I want to see that grade going up, not down – no social worker for you!

Ben finds a job in Criminal! He takes it to suppress the increase in weekly payments.

After a stint of handwashing, Cainneach learned to study. So happy I’m not using pet restrictions.

“So Dad, are you the Hamburglar now?”

“Don’t be silly, Cainneach. Eat your dinner.”

Stop! Baby time!

Yeah, Ben’s still studying. Pfft, Knowledge sims.

But it’s a girl, hooray! Ladies and gentlemen, meet Rina, the Random family’s 2nd generation heiress!

And that seems like a good place to end this chapter, a nice happy note. Tune in next time for more Random adventures!

Doom by the Numbers, Chapter 1

It’s summer and it’s hot. As usual this time of year, I’ve got the Apocalypse bug. Don’t know what’ll happen when I get to the point of lifting Music.

Anyway, it’s time to get my plotless, random Apocalypse started! I’m going to try to move through things pretty quickly.

Chryseis moved into her empty lot in Apocoville and immediately started looking for suspicious activity.

She never did join the Secret Society, but that’s ok; she brought plenty of money to fully establish her house right away. I went with a house with a foundation and basement, sacrificing a car to get two additional stories of space.

There is no porch to speak of. Chryseis will be getting a lot of outing gifts from her college outings, and I don’t want them left on the porch. As long as they’re not blocking anyone’s way, I can leave them where they’re left until I’m ready to deal with them.

The basement will be the communal bedroom. Just a double bed for Chryseis right now.

First floor has the kitchen, living area, bathroom, and nursery with just enough space for two cribs. I’ve learned from previous experience that it’s much easier to have the cribs on the same floor as the fridge.

The second floor has some skilling equipment – not that Chryseis needs it. The third floor is empty for now. One bathroom on each floor, and I’ll probably scatter some more sinks around once children come along.

The roof, covered with an awning, is empty for now. Half of it is fenced off and unaccessible; it’ll be used for 1 tile contraband items and for storing rotten food. (Hey, should be cold up there, right? It’s kind of like a refrigerator!)

Chryseis brought elixir and smart milk as her two items. She’ll drink most of the elixir, though she’ll leave 1 or 2 sips for future emergencies. The first 5 kids will each get 1 bottle of smart milk; hopefully the effect will stick with them long enough to get their skilling accomplished.

Chryseis sits down with the paper as soon as it arrives. Under the rule set I’m playing with, Chryseis must take a job the first day there’s a career available to be lifted. That excludes careers that have already been lifted, that already have another sim working on the lift, or that are suppressed. She can, however, choose among jobs that appear on a particular day.

The first job in the paper is Law Enforcement, and the third is Education, eligible for Chryseis with her Psychology degree. She has no choice but to take Education. No, it wasn’t on my short list of preferred first lifts, but it’s not the worst, either. She’s stuck with it, unless she gets fired.

Off for her first day of work!

And home with a promotion!

Since Chryseis is permaplat with max skills, she can be expected to get a promotion every time she goes to work, barring chance cars. Unfortunately, Education is during the day, Monday through Friday, so there’ll be no multiple promotions in a day. And since she doesn’t have a car, she won’t be able to go back if sent home due to a chance card.

It’s Tuesday, so Chryseis spends the evening on the phone with some of her 20 lovers.

The bad news: the outing gifts start coming the very first night.

The good news: they leave them on the corner of the lot, just like I had hoped.

And in the morning…

Uh, thanks, Gypsy Lady? Maybe we’ll be lucky and get an early Paranormal lift.

Promotion!

Chryseis wrote a book.

Always fun when random lovers walk by.

The weekend was very boring, so on to Monday.

The roof, with its contraband. The Education bookshelf and gypsy lamp have both been put up here, awaiting the days when their respective restrictions are lifted. The computer is a networking award, and the other stuff is gameplay stuff (Batbox, Sim Blender, ACR controller. Not for cheating, you understand, just for fixing glitches and such.)

Promotion

It’s the second Tuesday, so, phone time.

Huzzah! Chryseis has been promoted to Education Minister! Teens may now go to high school, and the college is open, though inaccessible at this point as the roads are crawling with zombies.

Perhaps more importantly at this point, Hopelessness is lifted. A spouse may now be moved in. Unfortunately, it’s Thursday, so it’s going to be a long five days.

Chryseis writes some novels, and gets to maximum enthusiasm in Film & Literature.

The outing gifts have reached critical mass.

I use my one allowable move for the outing gifts to stick them on the third floor, along with networking gifts, Chryseis’ hobby plaque, and the grill.

The placement of the stairs was intentional. I can place two wall segments today to block off the fire, and delete them tomorrow.

Fortunately, Chryseis stops panicking long enough to take direction to run downstairs. And since that wall’s there, she doesn’t run back up again. I lock the door.

(The last time I tried this, I didn’t have a wall, so the whole houseful of sims ran up from other floors.)

Chryseis works on her novel while the third floor burns.

What a mess. It takes Chryseis something like 3 days to clean it all up, especially since she has to keep washing her hands. Well, at least all the stuff is gone, right?

*sigh*

Finally, it’s Tuesday!

Ben happily moves in…

Pares down his inventory…

And then they have a lovely sidewalk wedding, officiated by a melting snowman.

Silly sims, always moving in hungry. Don’t you know there’s baby making to be done?

That’s better.

(I change the bed sheets every week when I pay protection. That way I remember I’ve done it.)

Ben’s level 8 in Military, and he’s got a few more body points to go.

Fortunately, he also needs mechanical.

Bump number one! Generation 2 will be here soon!

Chryseis is working her way through that rotten hamburger supply on the roof.

Then she calls up work to quit.

“What? You’re quitting?”

“I’m pregnant.”

“Well, you’re fired, then.” *click*

Jerk pre-Slacker bosses.

How much fun is apocalypse pregnancy?

Bump 2!

Chryseis has a little elixir.

She spends most of her time writing – the Zone is great for helping keep needs up.

Of course, she still sleeps half the time.

Meanwhile, Ben gets a promotion. He immediately sends his tag-along away. Based on her hat, it’s clear that she’s a spy.

Max body! Ben has all his skills for that last promotion!

And it’s baby time!

It’s a boy, which means he’s a spare. Random name generator gives me Cainneach. All right, then. Welcome to the Apocalypse, Cainneach. You’re going to have a terrible life.

Since Generation 2 has begun, that’s the end of this chapter! I’m generally going to try to keep updates short, though I tend to be long-winded, so we’ll see how that goes.

Doom by the Numbers: Prologue

I’ve been playing an apocalypse for a little while now, and it’s decided to get interesting, so I decided I might as well post – and nevermind that I’ve got two other stories going. I’m fickle, I am.

The plan for this apocalypse is to randomize as much as possible. Aspirations will be rolled for, of course. So will college majors. Names will be chosen at random using behindthename.com’s Random Name Generator. And I’m playing with the Unemployment Office handicap, which will sort of randomize the jobs, and also keep me on my toes because I don’t know what’s coming. This is also a Matriarchy, because I like girls better.

Without further ado, here’s the college chapter!

 

Meet our founder, Chryseis Random. She has all the necessary prerequisites for an apocalypse founder: she’s pretty, and she has elf ears. She’s currently a Knowledge sim, and has just spend a significant amount of her money on an empty 3×1 uni lot, because dorms drive me crazy. Her ltw is to top some career or other, but I don’t care.

“Yay! I get to skill!”

Yay! Aspiration points!

Ah, Re-Nu-Yu, my good friend.

In short order, Chryseis is a Romance sim, with a ltw to have 20 lovers. Perfect. Time to go downtown.

“Oh yeah, I got my smustle on. Can I get a what what?”

Everybody do the Smustle!

Meanwhile, Goopy becomes Chryseis’ first crush. He’s in Culinary, so he is indeed potential spouse material. Sorry, ladies, I know you all wanted him for yourselves.

“Hey, old dude. You seem pretty cool. Sorry I can’t put you on my spouse list due to age discrimination, but you know how it is.”

Old dude: “Drat that age discrimination.”

Peter Sims: “Woo! I’m on camera! Hi mom!”

“Yes! Cell phone! Does that mean I’m finally going to get some freaking woohoo? Seriously, I’ve spent days at this place as a Romance sim, and no woohoo at all!”

Sorry, Chryseis. I decided it would be best to just make 20 friends here. You’ll get to fall in love with them all at home.

“And woohoo?”

The want’s for lovers, not woohoos.

“Drat.”

Chryseis spent her time between friends digging for treasure. She had about $7000 worth of stuff by the time she was done.

And it’s friend #20!

“Woohoo?”

Woohoo! But go home first.

“I have a house!”

Yeah, it’s just the little “one step up from a trailer” thing from the bin. But it’s better than a lawn, especially since it’s permanent Fall at Apocalypse U and it’ll probably rain.

And now it’s time for skilling. Both the hard way…

And the easy way.

“You’re a straight girl, plus you have a monkey mouth. So it’s not like you were going to need those skill points, right, dormie?”

“Why? Lovers…Chryseis…not for me. Drunk moons, iron bunnies…”

Of course, Chryseis sometimes needs an aspiration boost…

“Woohoo!”

Um. This dormie’s name is Meadow Player. Something weird is going on here.

“Why, whatever do you mean? We’re certainly not watching your foolish attempt to reverse the Apocalypse.”

Who told you I was planning anything to do with the Apocalypse, huh?

“Foolish Creator.”

Finally, Chryseis’ long term relationships started getting up to 70. Apparently Jill Smith was one of the few who didn’t kiss that total slut Mystery Sim.

Note: this is a matriarchy, so the heir will always be female. That doesn’t mean the spouse will always be male. Jill here is totally eligible. Or she would be, if she had a job or skill points.

Once the LTR is 70 or above, falling in love is easy. Just invite someone over and initiate a romantic interaction – any flirt will do.

Instant best friend, crush, and love. Say goodbye and invite the next sim. Rinse and repeat. That way you can get 20 lovers with no slapping or trash can kicking.

Ben: “Wow, Chryseis, you are hot!”

Chryseis: *giggles* “I know, right?”

“Ben, I…I love you. This is the 20th time I’ve fallen in love, but you’re special.”

“I feel so fulfilled, like I’ll never be unhappy again.”

Can it, Chryseis. I’m getting diabetes here. To the orb!

“But…I like being a Romance sim!”

You’re Permaplat. You’ll like whatever I tell you to like. How about Popularity?

“That sounds like fun!”

Without further ado…

“Ben, will you wait patiently for me for years, then come live with me in squalor and spawn stinky children with me?”

“Of course I will, Chryseis!”

Yep, Ben is the first spouse. I picked him for his dashing good looks and keen fashion sense, you see.

“Chess is hard!”

Good thing you never have to play again, because you’ve maxed all your skills.

“Woohoo?”

Nope. You’ve completed almost all your list: permaplat, max skills, plenty of friends, and engagement. But there’s still one item on the checklist.

Money, of course!

Chryseis earns gold flowermaking, robotics, sewing, and pottery badges before I get bored.

Chryseis spends pretty much the remainder of her time in college painting, with a snapdragon by her side. Um, yay?

Obligatory self-portait. And yeah, I hung up a bunch of her other paintings, too. I might move some children of spares in here someday or something.

Finally, Chryseis graduates, summa cum laude with a degree in Psychology. Permaplat, all skills maxed, 20 lovers, and about 50k in the bank. Let’s get this party started!

After some last minute chats with her lovers, Chryseis grows up. Kind of weird, but not hideous. It will do.

And we’re off! Tune in next time to see what restriction Chryseis will get to lift!