The MacAvoy ISBI - Generation 3.2!

[tigeranne]

Yes, hi! It's been a while since we last saw the MacAvoys.



As you probably remember, this is now an unofficial ISBI. This update is only posted here, not in any communities. Last time, after Duncan didn't kill everyone after all, the ghosts were sent off to a new community lot. Jennifer had lots of promotions in the Law Enforcement track. Everyone else nearly starved to death. Lonzo died, just redeemed enough to escape special punishment. Jonathan, who was mostly ignored, grew up well. Brice, who was taken okay care of, grew up badly. My game is like a strange sociological experiment. Callan the dog was a pain in the ass. Lulu went to the Rainbow Bridge. Jennifer finally found love with Curtis, and had her first two children, Simon and Nikkie. Heather held a slight grudge.


We start exactly where we left off last, with baby Nikkie just born. I apparently chose to spell her name weirdly. She's got all of Curtis' genetics.


As usual the whole family came running and was all "Nooooooobooooooo!" apart from Heather, who is just SO over it. Her paleface-glitch returned too.


Heather: I loooove organic Flapjacks!


Being a Knowledge Sim in an ISBI must be just as frustrating as being Torch Holder. Strangely enough, I can't remember her ever doing the ball-trick that every controllable Knowledge Sim I've ever had have been so fond of.


Brice was useful, and made sure that Nikkie didn't shrivel up. This was also the moment I decided that I could take their kitchen wallpaper no longer. Not sure the new deco is that much of an improvement, though.


Who cares if the stupid humans can't get to their bedrooms. Nobody shall pass through this door before the real masters of the house are done with their evening toilet.


The actual chance card didn't get screenshot, for some reason, but it was the one where he has to choose between turning the kids away or give them two tables.


That's further than either Sinjin or Rose got in that track, and they were controllables.


Quintin is good at multi-tasking. Let's just hope he remembers which smelly object to throw in the bin.


Focus on her cute expression, not on the fact that her wrist is almost off. O.o I changed her hairstyle to one that actually looks good on her.


Then I decided to follow through with the plans I'd made, about exchanging Helena for a couple of the spare Magpie boys, so she could get married to her true love Rowland. Reuben initially seemed happy with that, because he thought Jen was smoking hot.


Thaddeus' reaction could best be summed up as "Hurrrrrrrrrr."


I finally got around to changing the ironically hip braids Reuben had since toddlerhood.


Thaddeus: Congratulations on never having an average above D-. Not having gone to private school gives you soooo much more life-cred!

Isabel: And we're supposed to be the dysfunctional household?


Reuben: *GASP!* Look, Thad! A small human!

Thaddeus: I can never get over how squoshed their faces look!


Jen barely needed to take care of Nikki at all. She was handed between Brice, Quintin and Helena most of the time. The rest of it, she spent on the floor, as per Sim custom.


I think we'll just let them enjoy a Callan-free home for a while. Also, shouldn't that be "has run away from home"? Or have all my English teachers been telling fibs?


Last time he had this one, he got scammed. I think he should tell the boss.


Since I can't tell him to skill, that's at least something.


Reuben got an old classic as well. Asking for the 25% worked well last time.


Oops. Well, he can just use his command to get another job. Or putter around the house looking miserable. The Macs are out of poverty by now.


Um, he missed work because he was fired, so what does it matter if his boss is a little unimpressed?


Yesss! Well done, Jen!


Jennifer: What happened, man?

Brice?: I don't feel like talking about it.


Then Thaddeus found out that he'd kind of gotten a rotten deal when he moved house.


But the thing is, he just fits so well in an ISBI house.


Guess how Jen celebrated her promotion! :D




Okay! Let's see what Nikkie looks like.


Helena's face froze in that dorky grin for a while. Oh, and that's Tina Thayer in the back. She looks a lot less trampy without Maxis make-up.


She's adorable! Not too much of a clone, either. I can see a lot of her father in her.

Heather: This is going to be Jen's favourite. I can feel it!


In true MacAvoy fashion, one child's birthday was ignored in favour of a younger sibling's. Simon grew up alone inside, and then went straight to bathe away his last diaper. You can't really tell in the picture, but he's all Curtis. He's not heir. I don't much like the idea of pregnant uncontrollables, so a boy will have to be really special to have a shot at heirdom in this legacy.


He didn't actually do that badly.


...or was he fired?


Reuben: This would never have happened if Laurence was here! He was the one all the shit used to happen to!

Including dying at the breakfast table and being danced the smustle upon.


Simon is actually a really cute kid. It's just that there's nothing of the MacAvoy family in him at all.


Can you say "healthy breakfast"?


Reuben: I'm just bound to be promoted now that I've cut my hair!

Jennifer: Oh, sure...


Simon: He used to say that I looked just like him, but he was just having me on!




Brice makes some fun expressions.


Francine: No, Thad. I don't want to talk to you, I want to talk to Reuben. Put Uncle Reuben on, please.


Good to see the kid is very flexible, I suppose?


Cool. Dewey grew into a...


...what?


No, seriously. What???


Is this supposed to be a dog? Why couldn't the Magpies have gotten him instead?


Yes, Brice wants that job, so both Reuben and Isabel can mess with him at work.


Well, he lasted long in this house, didn't he?


Jennifer: His name is Dewey. What breed he is? I'm not sure... He looks like an aardvark - cookie monster mix? Describe him more specifically, let's see... He's got this tiny slice of a head with crocodile eyes, and his neck is a massive, shapeless funnel. When he opens his mouth, it kind of looks like it's got hinges in it. And he's white with brown splotches. Got a thin tail like a garden hose. You'll keep an eye out for him? Splendid! Thank you, officer!




Stupidly, I also had her report Callan missing.


You have gotta wonder where his nose went.


Brice is just happy he's not in charge of things.




How cute is Nikkie?


Yes, Quintin. You. Your invisible controlling master has programmed you for this purpose.




Awww, Leo... Why couldn't you and Elvira have had kittens? :( I think I'll let the Macs stick to cats from here.


Jennifer: So yeah, I've been planning a lot for the new baby. I've even chosen her name. She's going to be called Donna.

Jonathan: Even if it's a boy?

Jennifer: It's a girl, I know it!


Rowland: You're having a baby? That's swell. The world needs more pups!

Jennifer: I just hope you won't be making any with my Mom.


Curtis: Baaaaw haaaaw, I don't have enough children!

Rowland: Calm down, man. Your wife's gestating the baby as fast as she can!


Jonathan: If it's a boy, you should name him Donathan.

Jennifer: Yeeeeah... I don't think so.




Just Jen looking pretty.


Jennifer: Shooflee?


Jennifer: Oh my! It popped inwards? That's not supposed to happen, is it?


Jennifer: Awright! That's more like it!


Reuben: I AM SURROUNDED BY IDIOTS! D':


I still think it's funny that it's always the Romance Sims that are obsessed with chess, not the Knowledge Sims.


Thaddeus: I'M SURROUNDED BY IDIOTS! LIKE, RIGHT NOW!


Jennifer: Compared to Thad and Reuben, we're not such losers! And we're a lot prettier, too.

Reuben: I hate you!


The small size of this picture makes it a bit hard to see, but Heather is completely raeging out while thinking of breakfast.




How cute is Nikkie? She reminds me of a little mouse. :)


Nikkie: Yay! Baff-time!


Simon: You. Are not. My mother. Anymore.


Helena got a make-over. She looks younger than she ever has.


I know a girl who actually smiles like this when she's goofing. It looks just as funny in real life.


Jennifer's watching videos from one of the alternate universes Sims can inhabit.


Potty-training Nikkie was out of the question, because she never stopped playing the xylophone unless Quintin came to pick her up.


Aww, Heather! :( And it's not my fault Nikkie's only happy when she's clanking on the xylophone!


Elvira: Go away, human boy. I need my beauty-sleep.


Looks like Simon has forgiven her. He was just annoyed that she was playing computergames in the only room with a vacant bed, so he couldn't sleep.


Simon: Mom? Are you waving to those green smiley faces? Can you see them too?


Simon: Is that my little sister?

Jennifer: Yes it is! :D


Heather: Remember that one time when Duncan totally killed you guys?


Jennifer: Oh, you've found him... Yeah, I guess you can bring him over. We live up at Cranberry Road, next to the Troll house.


Callan actually came back, and Jen showed him affection in the only way a dog understands, by feeding him a treat.


If he stops picking fights, and losing them, he may not have to run away again!


Elvira got old. :(


Jennifer: Cousin Francie is so nice and taaaan.


He there, premade guy who dyes his hair.


Since it was his first day of school, they couldn't really go anywhere but up.


And he brought Aniya's daughter home with him. :)


Prissy: Hi, can I hang with you guys today? Mom wanted me to observe life in a happy, successful family.


Ugh, chance cards! Hmmm. Jonathan was raised by a mother from the Army. Not to mention what his Dad used to put him up to. He should be used to taking orders and doing the leg work.


Jonathan: But I don't want to be a Prep cook. :( I want to be a goffick cook!


Reuben's haircut seems to have worked.


Isabel: Hi! I'm just dropping by to see how all you losers are doing.


Thaddeus: Darn it, Morris! Can't you learn to put on a bathrobe when you get the newspaper?


Jennifer: Heh, yeah. He's always been a bit weird. That must be where Wilandra gets it from.


Jennifer: Now let's see what Henry's up to..!


The little girl on the left, actually named Nikki, looks a bit like the girl Aniya adopted in the turn of events that didn't get saved.


Isabel obviously thought it was good to be home. ;)


I'm debating getting a different light mod. This almost looks like my TS3 game. With that one I needed a mod to reduce the sharpness of the light.


Here comes Morris to push and shove people.


Morris: How dare you spy on me, you shirt-plagiarist?

Thaddeus: Easy, bro! It's not even the same colours!


Prissy: I shall be going home now, but thanks for having me over. It was very generous, not to mention informative.

Simon: Sure! Just drop by again if you wanna.


Helena, please don't get any ideas.


I'm going to try to take "portraits" of everyone.


Jennifer: Gaaah! The baby's coming!

Curtis: Don't worry! Super-Husband(TM) is here.


As usual, the reactions to someone giving birth in front of a big audience varied a little.


Jennifer: Told you it was a girl! Family, meet Donna.

Thaddeus: Nooo! Another Human to make the world unpleasant!


Donna is seriously pale. Her skintone is from a different set than Jennifers, and a little bit more pink. Jen's got a Trapping skin, and I think Donna's got Pooklet's Rehash. Quite frankly though, Donna's not any less ghostly than her mother. The goal for Generation 5 will be to bring pigmentation back.


Thaddeus: This child will grow up in poverty just like meeee.


Yes, bring him back to his loving home! :D


Hey Callan, you brute? Be careful with Elvira! She's old.


HAHAHAHALOLHAHAHAAAAAAHA!


Heather still prefers Alfie's old bed to her own privately locked bedroom.


Demi Love brought Dewey back.


Heather's "portrait". She looks just like Lonzo.


Jonathan: You'd better have a good reason for waking me up this early, rugrat!


Reuben finally got to interact with a real baby.


When I adopted Dewey to be Callan's foe, I guess I hoped he'd be a Rottweiler or somthing.


Isabel: It's good to be back home again, and see that nothing much has changed around here.

Heather: Yeah, I know! We're as awesome as we've always been.


Isabel: No, I meant that I know I made the right decision when I left and joined a clan of Mountain Trolls. I've sometimes wondered what could have been. When I look at you, I see the fate I escaped.

Heather: But... We have a better house! You guys live on top of each other, and have to grow your own vegetables.


Isabel: True. But that's part of our Way of Life. But it's never too late to embrace your inner Troll. Now that you're about to get prematurely old, you should keep that in mind.

Heather: I will! Thank you for the advice.


Awesome! Now she's Burton's rank! And look who's coming along. :) Hiya, Burton. Your wife is still here.


Nikkie didn't learn any skills during her toddler years, but that can't be helped. Time for her to become able to use the toilet.


Burton: I don't envy this kid.


New drinking-game rule. Take a swig every time I post a birthday picture with half the house missing.


Yeah, figured as much.


She actually looks a bit like Jen.


See?

But Nikkie's got her father's chin and big clunker of a nose. (Which will be a lot smaller on her, of course.) She's not a clone. Unless Donna turns out amazing, Nikkie should be fairly secure in her heirdom.


Oh. Growing up doesn't always mean that life gets easier.


Ooopsie.


Curtis: Aren't you even going to mop up the puddle you left on the floor?

Nikkie: You do it, you're the adult! I need to go shower.

Helena: Jen's definitely not been strict enough with her.


Reuben: All the respect you get for not having gone to school can't be beaten.


Brice: They're totally intimidated by my magnificent BRAIN! BTW, Isabel's come to gloat again.


He'll be the second of Ely's kids to get old before her. It's not really that long sinc he grew up, after beating up a kid from school for being poor. Actually, it's not that long since he was a toddler and lay passed out on the sidewalk, while Burton tried to remember if he was one of the family or a random stray baby.


Thaddeus: Ha ha ha, now Brice can feel what it's like to be miserable and unfulfilled.


Brice: Stop right there, man! I don't want your condecending man-hugs!

Thaddeus: But I was only trying to cheer you up, dude!


Brice: WAAAAAAH! I'm so pathetic that even THAD pities me!!!

That is quite an achievement, though.


Last picture of Heather being young.


Okay, those undies are grotesque. Note to self, replace the elder undies.


She didn't actually fare too badly, and once again the game surprises me. Heather has seemed pretty miserable her entire life. She held down a job for all of one day. However, she's never had a breakdown or Aspiration failure that I've seen, and she aged up well. Elenora, on the other hand, had a job and friends, and seemed happier, yet she turned out to have been as low as she could be.


At every family dinner there is one person who makes everyone else uncomfortable.


Nikkie: I'll totally never run away. Running away is for LOSERS! I'm stronger than that!


Heather: Reuben, do you think you could cry somewhere else? I need to use the toilet.

Reuben: Nooooooo!


Poor Nikkie. She didn't find a bed that night. Now there are a couple of tents in the garden for those in need.


Heather: What makes you think you can just move in here and tell us how to do things in our own house?

Reuben: Hey, this wasn't my choice, okay? It was something Helena negociated with my awful sister! I live here too, I have a say in how things are done!


Thaddeus: You showed her! Like I told you before, not having gone to school, like... at all makes you able to see how life really is! I wish I'd had your upbringing, but Mom tricked me into that oppressive education machine. That's why I haven't reached my full potential.


She made this face all the way out to the carpool. I'm not sure if she's happy to go to work, or just happy to escape the house.


Flashbang? Isn't that the type that shoots out a lot of little firecrackers and sounds like someone firing an automatic weapon? Since we have to assume the traffickers are armed, there's always a chance they could start firing all around them as well, and hurt Jen's colleagues. And I think of Jen as a more stealthy type, not the "Whee! Hoo! Explosions!" kind like Helena and Weedy. Smokescreen's sneakier and more classy.


I think Jen mistook the Idiot-Ball for the grenade.


Nooo! Not Leonard! I HATE YOU, CALLAN! I guess the only solution is to keep agressive dogs confined to their own locked kennels from now. Or not adopt them at all, though that would probably mean the pound wouldn't restock.


And what goes up, tend to come down unless there's something there to bounce it back up again.


Lela Duckling by alittlestrangemade a walk-by. I know she looks just like any other Face 8s without her signature hair, but it really is Lela.


This is not!Rowland, Dan. :)


Don't be a clone, Donna. Please! I rolled the pacifier. (The test subjects were Rowland and Helena.)


And the family tradition of people in uniforms playing with their kids continues. I wonder what sort of career Nikkie will have, though. I SURE hope she doesn't roll the pesky Fortune aspiration. I can handle all the others, including Romance.


She looks more like she just rescued a baby from a collapsed building than a mom at her daughter's birthday party, but whatever. The Macs have always been a bit regimental.


This looks like it could have been an inspirational poster in Simerica.


Donna's one of those popular kids, whose birthdays everyone flocks to.


She looks like a tiny alien flying off home. ;)


Okay! That's really different. She definitely doesn't seem to be a clone of anyone. I think the upper part of her face is from Curtis, and the lower half from Jen. It will be really interesting to see what she'll look like in later stages.




Oh, Nikkie... You've got competition now. Of course, being pretty isn't the first criteria for being heir. She'll need to be interesting as well.


Heather: When will you get it into your thick skull, Pinoccio? This is my house, not yours! If I say the last slice of pie is mine, it is mine. If I say we watch Sherlock on TV, then we watch Sherlock. If I tell you to do the laundry, you say "Thank you, Mistress!"

Reuben: You're so incredible lookist!


Some things never change. Fighting with Reuben burns a lot of calories.


And now we've got fighting kids as well.


Jen tried to teach Nikkie to study, but she only finished about 20% of her homework before the boredom became overwhelming.


I decided to have a houseparty to celebrate the various birthdays that had happened lately, and invited a few of the Magpies over to see Thad ascend to Elder. His mother couldn't be bothered to show up.


I still need to give him a proper elderly make-over.


Oh, it can still go downhill a bit. He hasn't peed himself or had a mental breakdown yet. That probably means that Reuben is even sadder than him, because he has.


Yes, I know.


This is their idea of a party.


Jennifer: So, Uncle Alfie... I hear your career's going well.

Alfie: Yes, I guess I can't complain. Weedy wants me to stop drinking Green Juice for a while though, so I can transition to Elder. She says that will make me look a lot more responsible and dignified.

Jennifer: Yeah, maybe you should like cut your hair, or something.


Alfie: I think you may be right. Gus & Neale are doing a very popular impression of me on stage, and Gus puts a mop on his head to play me. Very good show, though. Have you seen it?


Jennifer: Yeah, I went with some friends from work. It was hilarious, especially the part where the Head Master comes for dinner, and the neighbours are behaving all weird!


Jennifer: And I love that skit about the girl who's got trouble raising children, and wants to go on TV for help. I'm a mother of three, I can so totally relate!


Alfie: Yeah! That's a good one. The audience always laughs when she's dragging that dummy that's supposed to be an unconscious child around.

Nikkie: That sounds SO funny! A weird girl I go to school with says stuff like that happens at her place all the time, and that Gus is her Dad and stuff, but I'm not sure I believe it.

Louise: Dummm-de-dooo... Pretend you don't hear them, Louise. You don't have to join their discussion. Focus on your platter of turkey...


Alfie: Soooooo, Louise... What did you think of the end, where the cops drag her away? I always thought Gus was really convincing in that part!

Nikkie: Mom, please take me to see this!


Louise: Well, yeah. It's from life, you know. Gus had a crappy childhood, and his parents forced him to become a burglar. He's been arrested a few times, so he'd know what it's like. Making jokes about it is just his way of dealing with things.


Louise: So even if it looks like all fun and games, there's kind of a serious message in the back. If you want your children to turn out well, you need to raise them properly, with love, understanding and clear boundries.

Jennifer: Oh, wow Louise, you know so much about life! Can you teach me how to be a better person and a better mother, please?

Nikkie: Dunno, Mom. I kind of like you the way you are. You're like... not strict, and don't make a stink if I don't do my homework.


Nikkie: And besides, you're not a cop, Louise. Mom knows ALL about laws and rules. So I know that if she doesn't say no, it's okay!


Alfie: Well, this was inspirational! I wonder if Weedy wants to have another baby!


Let's get Leo back!


Well, it was Thad's birthday. What did you expect, guests?


Then Nikkie decided to raege against boredom. It's not like she's got a whole playground to have fun on, or toys and books. It was kind of fitting how the disebodied candles hung in the air in front of her. :)


She really doesn't like the idea that Jen might be tightening her reign over the household.

That's all for now! Next time we'll see how the Magpies are doing, and as always the Macs will suddenly be back!