orikes: (wing)
[personal profile] orikes
Work was supposed to be easier this week. It wasn't. It was actually worse. It's just a touch frustrating when you spend the bulk of the week busting your ass to get a big project out the door only to find out at the last second there's another piece that the other departments didn't tell you about.

I enjoy what I do and it's a good company for the most part. Unfortunately, it's still a relatively new company so there's lots of growing pains. Things are constantly changing and not everyone is as good at communicating as they should be. The e-mail chain I got on this lost piece goes back three weeks, but no one thought to let my department know so we could get it out with the rest of it.

The end of the fiscal year was yesterday, so hopefully there won't be any more "OMG OMG THIS NEEDS TO BE DONE RIGHT NOW!" panics. I've got lots of clean up I need to do, but for the most part the worst of the stress should be over.

Why I am I going on about this? Besides the release of ranting? Well, it means I haven't worked on any of my Sims2 stories at all. I keep looking at them thinking I should, and reading everyone's updates has made me want to get back to it, but the brain is not cooperating. On top of that, I don't think I've left a comment for anyone who has updated in the last week and a half. I've stayed on top of everything and liked what I read, but commenting just didn't seem to be in me at the moment.

To blow off steam, I've been playing a bit more of Maxistonia. I'm hoping now to set it aside nad get back to the Pseudo stuff, but while I'm here, let me show you some stuffs.





Did you know that Circe and Nervous have more bolts than she and Loki do? And this is without any of their turn-ons matching. If you switch even one of their turn-ons to match the other, they suddenly turn into three-bolt stalkers. Add ACR to this mix and it's a hilarious recipe for marital disaster.

From Nervous' perspective, marital disaster sounds really good right about now.



Loki really does have NO eyes when he's angry. Doc, I can completely understand why you decided to gender-reverse him and marry Helen into her legacy. The genetic wonders of his face are beyond compare.

For a while, Circe was happily going back and forth between the two men and was trying to get pregnant by either. Loki didn't catch on until Nervous caressed her right in front of him. Circe did finally get pregnant after about the seventh try. Nervous is the dad, so no scary brows on that baby.

I never knew that when you break-up with a sim living in the same house, they move out. The things you learn when you ruin your little pixel people's lives.



Over in Veronaville, I discovered something interesting. Consort Capp is gay.

Well, at least in my neighborhood he is. I think since Contessa is dead when the game loads up, his gender pref isn't set, so ACR randomized him for me. This put a whole new spin on the fued between the families when you think about how close Consort and Patrizio used to be.

I'd never actually spent much time playing the Maxis neighborhoods, so it's been interesting to get to know some of the characters. Veronaville always seemed the least interesting to me, but now that I've played it I've become quite fond of it. I'm sure the trashcan kicking and poking gets a little annoying after a while, but I found it interesting how they've got so many little things set up to try and mix the two families. Romeo and Juliet is just the obvious one. Kent and Bianca are there, Miranda and Mercutio are there.



And then there's the unexpected. Tybalt never expected little Beatrice Monty to turn out so pretty. Even though he won't admit it to Juliette or Uncle Kent, he kind of understands a little bit of where they're coming from now.



Speaking of Kent and Bianca, I think they're my favorite couple in the neighborhood. They're not explicitly set up to get together, but come on. Two single adults, both frustrated with their family, both seeking companionship. Besides that, they don't come saddled with the teen angst aspect that all the other couples do.

I liked them so much, I gave them a real wedding. Of course, I forgot to take her out of her wedding dress, so the next couple of weddings all had her showing up like Bridezilla.



One of the more interesting relationships that I have not had a hand in even remotely is Mortimer Goth and Florence Delarosa. The kept showing up in the Welcome Wagon together and before you know it, they were flirting friends. I'd thought about hooking Morty up with one of the spinsters out there somewhere, but he and Flo seem to have made up my mind for me.



I also enjoyed playing the Monty twins as well. Beatrice and Benedict are a fun pair. Benedict is also one of the few sims I've ever had randomize gay. I was setting him up to flirt with Miranda Capp when he started heart farting his sister's date. Tybalt wasn't too happy about this, but at least it let me know where Benny stands.

Beatrice is really pretty, but Benedict's eyes are a little odd. They're too close together combined with a big nose. He looks a bit exotic as a teen to me, even if he's not exactly handsome.



I also had a lot of fun playing the Summerdreams, even though I got irritated with their house. Who the heck builds a house like that? The foundation is lower than the sidewalk, which makes it nearly impossible to set up a nice sidewalk. I finally gutted the entire place and rebuilt it.

Titania and Oberon actually had decent boltage in this neighborhood, so I went ahead and got them married. They seem thrilled, don't they?



This little one was actually born BEFORE the wedding. Gossamer has her mother's hair and skintone, but her daddy's eyes and nose. I forgot what her personality is since I left the house pretty much right after she transitioned.



Being a big fan of Jenn's 'Familiar Faces', I was curious about whether or not Bottom and Alexander Goth would get along. It just so happened that Puck had brought Alex home on the bus a few times, so he and Titania were friends with him already. It was only natural that I would invite him over for Bo's teening.

What you see above is the VERY first thing Bo did after she ate her cake. She sought Alex out, chatted with him, then farted.



That wasn't the end of it, though. At the main Capp house, Alex and the Pleasant twins kept coming home on the bus. One day while I'm playing, Bo shows up as a walk-by. Since she's BFF with Hermia, she invited herself in and immediately started stalking Alex.

"Put your eyes back in your head, Lilith. The nerdboy is mine so keep your hands to yourself."

If I were Lilith, I would be backing off rather quickly.



Hopefully I'll have a BC update out this week. The desire has been there even if the brain power has not. I keep seeing other people's updates and it makes me miss my pixel people. The Maxistonia neighborhood is a nice distraction, but it's definitely not the same. I think I'm ready to put it up for a while and get back to the meat of the game for me.

(no subject)

Date: 2008-08-01 09:48 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] docnerd.livejournal.com
Honestly, I didn't even realize Loki Beaker's brows were that bad until I got the full effect of them on Rocky as a teenager. I mean, I knew the guy was squiffy-looking, so that's why I did what I did, but I didn't know HOW bad it was until Rocky grew up. And I DEFINITELY didn't expect the cheek thing. Yeeeeesh.

Seems like those Megahoods are fun. I'd barely played any of the premade 'hoods until I started my Legacy, and the only premade characters I've really played at all are Gilbert and Malcolm. But it must be sort of cool to have Alexander Goth bring home Bottom Summerdream or Tank Grunt.

And I don't think anyone will complain if you want to get back to the Legacinas and your BC!

(no subject)

Date: 2008-08-01 09:48 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] smjoshsims.livejournal.com
I love Maxistonia picspam! I really like Bo and Alex together in Familiar Faces, I'm glad to see they got together in someone else's hood. ^__^

(no subject)

Date: 2008-08-01 10:02 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] profbutters.livejournal.com
Oh, this was fun to read. You know I'm a fan of Veronaville--it was the first neighborhood I played. Whoooooaa. Bianca Capp cleans up nicely, doesn't she? I quit playing Veronaville before I knew the joys of custom hair, so. . .

Yeah, you're supposed to solve the Veronaville problems with luff--that and all the elders dying off. I always thought the Kent/Bianca hinting was pretty obvious, but that doesn't mean it's wrong. I got them together, too. Benedick Monty is gay in my Veronaville, too. Of course, you probably know that Tybalt and Mercutio are the closest thing I have to a Sims 2 OTP, and besides, Beatrice got together with Melody Tinker in my game.

Brainbleach on Patrizio/Consort. The pictures are mighty confusing and never told me much except that Isabella supposedly can make Baked Alaska. At some point, I'm going to reset Veronaville entirely, add back the families I added (the Hamlets, the Poloniuses, the Milans) and maybe install ACR for the heck of it to see what happens.

Eh, do what you can, it's a hobby. Only if you *were* thinking about pushing on the new BC chapter, I'm leaving for Maine on Thursday and won't have any access to a computer for about a week and a half, and I do wish I wasn't going to be spending it sunburning *and* wondering what happened, but. . .

PB

(no subject)

Date: 2008-08-01 11:04 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] ndainye.livejournal.com
HEHE I'm pretty sure that I had Circe and Nervous doing some autonomous flirting even before ACR entered the picture. Loki was my first ever zombie, I don't think I've ever played the family to the point where Circe and Loki had children I always end up spending most of my time in Strangetown with the Curious' and the Grunts and pretty much ignoring everyone else.

Alex was the stalker in my game anytime Bo was at her Mom's or at Delphy's Alex would do a walkby. Once they were in UNI Alex pretty much lived at the Greek house he was always there by 10am and never left unless he was told to leave.

I like the combined hoods but I'll be happy when you are back to playing your main hood as well :)

(no subject)

Date: 2008-08-02 12:51 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] dgjamie.livejournal.com
I've never seen Nervous look so smug as he does in that picture of the Slapfest :D

Beatrice is definitely a cutie with that hair, I really really like that nose on girls for some reason.

Before my first unistall, I did breed Loki and Circe, they had a daughter, Daenerys, and the kid got the brows. They're incredibly masculine looking even on a Toddler girl...

(no subject)

Date: 2008-08-02 05:23 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] orikes13.livejournal.com
I love the mixing and matching aspect of the mega-hood. Watching Dina Caliente and Lazlo Curious hook up was made of pure win. The teens are the most fun, though. Since they tend to already have connections in the hood they're from, it takes a little work to bring in the teens from outside, but it can be done. I think Puck's Saturday house party had all the Veronaville teens, Ripp Grunt, Alex Goth, the Pleasant Twins, and Melody Tinker.

While I never cared for them before, the pre-made hoods are a neat idea. You get the same starting point as everyone else, but where it goes from there is all up to you. It's interesitng to see what some people do with it.

(no subject)

Date: 2008-08-02 05:24 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] orikes13.livejournal.com
I was really tickled to see them stalking each other. I was hoping they would, but I didn't want to force it.

(no subject)

Date: 2008-08-02 05:31 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] orikes13.livejournal.com
I briefly thought about making Mercutio and Tybalt gay and seeing what happened, but I ended up deciding to let them stay straight and go from there. I know none of the boys randomized gay other than Benedick. TwoJeff's crystal ball has helped me see who's available among the playables. There are a few options for Ben when he grows up (Ajay Loner is high on the list), but no one as a teen.

I think Bianca and Beatrice are both really pretty. I think they have similar faces. At the very least, they have similar noses. I think the hardest Veronaville sim to clean up was Goneril. She's got a very unfortunate mouth. Consort and Patrizio both have perpetual scowls, but being cranky old men, they can get away with it. Goneril, on the other hand, looks like she's been sucking on sour lemons for most of her life. Regan looks similar, but softer.

Heck, I think half the reason I enjoy the mega-hood is the opportunity to give everyone make-overs. Circe looks great with Nouk's newest hair.

I will try my hardest to get a BC update out before you go away. You'll still be wondering what happens next, but at least you'll know the current next. ;)

(no subject)

Date: 2008-08-02 05:33 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] orikes13.livejournal.com
I promised the Prof I'd try and have the BC out before she leaves for her vacation on Thursday, so I've got a hard goal in mind now. Hopefully that kicks me into gear and the brain power cooperates.

When Bo showed up at the Capp's house and invited herself in while Alex was there, I just started laughing. Juliette has two bolts for Alex, so was eyeing him up a bit (I gave her Romance secondary), but once Bo was there, he didn't have a moment to himself. Not that he objected.

(no subject)

Date: 2008-08-02 05:35 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] orikes13.livejournal.com
The Nervous picture made me crack up laughing. Loki had just been trying to get some couch woohoo with Circe when they got interrupted and Nervous came over and caressed Circe. Loki freaked out and Nervous just stood there doing the contented tummy rub that cuisine hobby sims do.

I'm not surprised that their kid looked masculine. Coco from Doc's legacy looks like a man because of Loki's genetics. Considering that Erin Beaker is face one, it's kinda funny. One of them has to be adopted. ;)

By the way, welcome to LJ. :)

(no subject)

Date: 2008-08-05 02:24 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] rcubical.livejournal.com
The Megahood: Favorite way to ignore my legacy for a while.

It sounds like your having lots of fun with it so far. Poor Loki being cheated on by Circe. At least DocNerd loves you (for being genetically malformed).

Haha, poor Lilith. She's lucky that I'm keeping her with Dirk. Angela is who I'm going to make miserable...

As for similar faces (in lieu of an above post) I moved Bianca in with Nina Caliente and switched back and forth between the two. Thus realizing that they look really similar. Same goes for Angela and Juliette but they're pretty much clones.

I can't wait to see more! And please, I need more houses. My legacy is growing two quickly and I don't want sims living in double homes xD...I can wait.

(no subject)

Date: 2008-08-05 03:54 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] jengagne.livejournal.com
The work sitch sounds agonizing. Hopefully you will indeed be relieved by EoY. o_o