The Magpie Prettacy - Generation 4.6!

[tigeranne]

Suddenly the Magpies were back!

Last time, I decided that Ferrett (I spelled her name wrong throughout the update) should be the next Heir. Peggy drank ReNuYu, and went on a second date with Ernest. Not only did it turn out a lot better than their first one, they went all the way to engagement. Ernest used his influence at work, and Peggy got promoted all the way to Hall of Famer. She's now PermaPlat, and I don't have to worry about her again. :D

Flora came of age, and joined the exhausting life of an adventurer. She also became a werewolf, along with Chester, Molly and Leicester. As you're about to see, not everyone's too happy about that...




Gregory: I hate my liiiiife! More monnnnnnney, please!

Greg just can't handle his family being werewolves. He drops Aspiration points by the thousands every time one of them howls. :( At this point, all his wants revolve around them getting cured, so not even money or expensive art can cheer him up.


Doktor Geisteskrankenheit: Ahaa... Vat have vee hiere? Haz das Life bin sehr hard for Zie lately, mein friend?

Greg: If I hear one more of those soul-shattering howls, I will lose my marbles!

Doktor G: A bit late für zat.


Doktor G: Zie see, a sound is keine thing to be ängstlich of. Zure enough, it can make ze Haar on your back ztand up, but it iz nicht but ein paar airwaves making a ruckus.

Greg: You're not gonna charge for this consultation, are you? I mean, you came by unannounced, and I didn't ask for a psych-evaluation.

Doktor G: Don't Zie worry. Ich bin nothing but eine figment of Ihre Phantasie.


Even Flora's nerves are beginning to fray. I don't know what she was reacting to, because there was no one in the room with her.


Sharkey got a promotion, by the way.


Greg: I don't even care that the carpool is a disgraceful rust-bucket. Take me away from here!!!


Since Flora's not going to be Heir, she got a little vacation as a consolation prize. She's going to need friends and stuff, so she headed out camping in order to socialize.

Flora: I actually think carbon emissions are a much more serious problem than anything Edgar could come up with. Like... I know it's a show and all, but you're kind of giving the guy too much credit.

Laurelin: Yeah, but at least he's good at playing dastardly. The guy we got to play Diaper Man has yet to even show up on the set. Not that I blame him, though, considering what his outfit looks like...


Laurelin: And that guy isn't even acting. He's legit trying to rob the extras all the time. It gets really annoying when we shoot at an external location.


Flora: Is there a part I could play? I mean, I've already been "Girl who kinda looked like Edgar", but I think I could come up with something better than that.

Laurelin: Oh wow! We don't really get offers all that often! I'll see what we have going on.


TigerAnne kinda wishes it was summer, not November.


Flora: Wheee! I wish I had a surf-board.

As it happens... I've downloaded a surfing hack. :D Can't wait to try it out. Riana's gonna cry tears of joy.


Yeah, you're kind of ugly yourself.


Albio: I'm so glad you came. Now I'm not the only person in here who's dressed alternatively.

They're at Lucky's. It was sort of boring at the beach, so she moved on a bit.


Ethan really likes it there.


Flora: Love me like you do. Love-love-love me like you dooooooo!


Don't look, but here's Tallie. Wonder what dark and evil deeds she's up to...


Tallie: ...so, long story short, we're kind of getting our own show! I'm SO getting a new dress. Maybe you should try a new style, too? Like... something really punk!


Everyone: ZOMG WHAT IS THIS WE HAVE NEVER SEEN ANYTHING QUITE THIS SCARY BEFORE WE'RE LOSING OUR SANITY OH WHAT IS THIS HORROR??!

Ethan: This is starting to resemble things at home. I go out to escape that crap!


Alan Duckling: That poor girl must have gotten a really bad crick in her back. No wonder she makes inhuman sounds, she must be in pain!

Alan belongs to alittlestrange.


In the tragically blue kitchen at the camp, she met Corby. He's actually the non-gothic version of Falcon. Flora had no chemistry with him, as far as I remember. He's difficult to flirt up, because his turn-ons are witches and something stupid.


Flora: But when do we actually get to see Diaper Man?

Starling: No idea.


Alan apparently sneaks out to feed his junk-food addiction, away from his health-conscious wife.


There's a hot spring in the Magpies' garden. It's just behind the pool, so really quite close to the side-door. Nobody ever uses it. When they get to a community lot, however...


Flora: Oh no... Wonder what Jennifer's making for breakfast.


Currently nothing, because she's in the process of starving to death herself.


It would really rub Editha the wrong way to have her sister acting like a socialist in public. :D :D :D And Ernest would be sooo proud, so...


That certainly failed to annoy Edie.


At least people aren't asking whether he bites.


Ferrett: Oh no! I was just able to squeeze into those cool jeans at Hollister yesterday. :(

Gus: I need someone to play a Sumo wrestler on The Gus Show, JFYI.

(Yes, I do imagine his show as being pretty darn offensive and politically incorrect.)


I WILL NEUTER YOU ALL! D:<


Greg: Nobody gives me any spare change. :C


I wonder where they get the idea that he doesn't need any.


This should be a picture of Molly drinking the werewolf-cure. Again, Imgur insists it doesn't exist, even when I re-upload. What? Is some sort of filth-detecting program misinterpreting what the pictures are really showing, or something? I'm leaving it up, to see if it works itself out.


Here's Flora taking the same cure. She apparently wasn't offensive.


It was fun having werewolves, and Leicester was a particularly great one, but I can't handle all the crying and misery they cause other family members.


I made over Flora a little, because I thought her previous look was a little too goody-two-shoes. Flora's a rascal, and now she looks like one. :D


Helena keeps getting younger and prettier with each make-over. O.o


Jennifer: I worry about the kid...


Bertie, I wasn't joking when I said you'll be moving in with Edgar unless you get a grip! I've followed up with threats before.

Know something? He will! He's scary-looking enough that he can play the part of a villain, and there will be one less person in the house. Plus, I won't have to worry about keeping him young, etc. Oh, and Greg can go with him! :D


Greg's doing okay in his job, at the moment. I think that's actually the highest level Mary Elizabeth, our original panhandler, ever got to. Then again, she sucked at the whole business thing.


Jonathan: So you say my Dad came around, a couple of days ago? Did he seem... well adjusted?

Jennifer: That depends on your definition, I guess. I've definitely seen worse cases.

Jonathan: Yes, but you're from a... never mind.

(Okay, so I realise that it's getting a bit confusing here, whether the events of the Starbloom Travecy are real or not. In the case of Ryan, it's pretty clear that he is somewhat disturbed. The actual exploding thing, however... didn't really happen. Like the killing of Remington Wren, that was all script. He probably thinks it did, though.)


Then I went and built a glorified bowling-alley in the corner of the garden. :) The second storey is just deco, because a lower building didn't look that good.


It's got super-fancy chandeliers and all. Oh, and all the photobooth pictures died when I forced the error. I'm too lazy to fix them using raemia's method, so I'll just have them take new ones in their very own booth.


I went a bit OMSP-happy, oops. :) This whole table setting is all deco. There's another couple of sofas they can actually use while waiting for their turn.


Jonathan: *Really weird life story*

Ferrett: *Sceptically fascinated*


Ferrett: No, I don't have to write love-poems to the Head Master, LOL!


This is Gus' DJ-ing face.


Jennifer looks more like a teenager with that hair and shirt, than she did when she was a teenager. It suits her, in a way. She's somewhat chaotic, and not all that cut out for responsibility. Remember when she got fired as Captain Hero?


Flora LOOOOVES playing pool! Or "snooker". Billiards. Whatever.


Ferrett really tries to show that she'll be the best Heir. I have no doubt that she'll make more of a peaceful and stablilizing Head of House than her sister, who won't be home much.


Jennifer: I bet even Jamie Oliver has days like this. :(


Oh, so the bowling alley is an immediate success, is it? But you can't go right outside the door to use the pool.


Flora wants it! :D


It's a hard job, though. Poor Leicester.


Francie: I CAN'T GO TO ANOTHER ONE OF THE SIX BATHROOMS IN THIS HOUSE! THAT INCLUDES NOT HAVING THE ABILITY TO GO TO ANY OF THE OTHER THREE ON THIS FLOOR. ESPECIALLY NOT THE ONE RIGHT ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WALL!

Flora: *ignores*


That will get him out of Abbie's hair for a few hours.


I put a poker table in the bowling house. :) It's pretty popular.


This is Isabel Francie on a date... alone. Where's Sharkey?

And no, that's not the size of my game screen. That's an automatic re-size. My game screen is smaller. I play in windowed mode. Anyone know how to get the window bigger?


Oh. Here he is. Of course someone managed to get out of the chair on the wrong side, and get stuck.


This is Sharkey's make-over, hee hee! The Asterix moustache suits him to a T, and his new hair is a bit sharkier. He'll need some new clothes, and maybe he'll stop being so darn nondescript.


Both him and Francie were approaching their elder days again, so I sent them off to a date to earn points.


Sharkey: Maybe if you kind of stuck your boobs up to the camera...

Francie: Dad would kill us if we hung that in the hallway.


Helena: I think maybe it's best if we tell people that you, me and Jennifer are sisters. It's better than explaining our whole family tree.


I could kick Ettie out, too. Yeah, that's right. I could download Kevin Duckling, and have them get married and have lots of little axe-murderers.


Weedy: Foood! I neeeed foood! My strenght is faltering. Carry me, son!

Bertie: Mom, I'm trying to mop the floor, here! It's kind of hard when you're putting your whole weight on my back.


Edna: I'm tired of vegetables! Can't we have eggs and bacon?

Weedy: Salad isn't proper food for orcas. :( I need fish.


Flora needs to stay on the veggie diet, because she'll be squeezing into a lot of tight spaces.


Ettie: If Jen cooks more fattening food now, anyone of us will be able to play Diaper Man.

Editha: Ettie, I don't think Grampa was joking when he said he'd lose his mind if he heard that guy mentioned one more time...


Editha: Grandpa? Gramps? Can you hear me?


Jennifer: Don't worry. Mom will reactivate him when she gets home.


Leicester is the logical type, so he'll go for the logical alternative. Let's talk to the accountant.


Now he's even logicaller. :D


Yeah, okay. Crap.


Ferrett really wanted to be friends with Jonathan. Why not. She needs any and all points.


Weedy started rolling wants to go fishing, so I dug a pond for them.


The garden was pretty boring, but the new building and the pond are helping making it seem more alive. After I took this picture, I decided it needed a little something.


There! A pretty, classic statue on an OMSP. Perfect!


Flora: Ha ha ha! Editha's novels are so bad they're hilarious! No wonder they're so popular.


Normally, I would've had a bit of a problem with having these two go on a date. Using my "age system", she was 19 and he was 13 at this point. However, the game doesn't give a crap, most readers don't give a crap, and Ferrett could really used the 8000 points a First Kiss would give.


The car was happy to be out on a date again.


Jonathan wasn't really her type, though. Let me zoom in on her expression.


Come on, Ferrett. He's not that bad looking.


A little ReNuYu later...


Well, look at that. There isn't much of a future for these two. To be honest, I had already picked out a husband candidate for her at this point. (Hint: You've seen him before!) Ferrett was scoring an awful lot of points, though.


Ferrett: I think you worry too much about being your Dad, the way he should have been. Maybe you should just try to be YOU?

Jonathan: Maybe I should. You seem to like me for who I am, at least.


Nawww, they're a bit cute.


Jonathan: You're a good friend, Ferrett. I wish you didn't have to grow up yet.

Ferrett: Yeah, me too. I've been waiting a long time for this, but it was worth waiting for. :)


Keely Duckling: Hiya, Ferrett. Looks like you're busy. TTYL.


SCORE!


Look who we have over there, on the bench.


Either Cindie sent her out to be a chaperone, or she's out feeding her addiction, too.


Riana: Huuuuuuuuurr...


Oooor, she was on a date with her eternally beloved.

William: ...duuuuuuuuurr.


Sorry, mate. Pool will always be her first and truest love.


Riana: I'm not the jealous type, but when I only see him every five years, I kind of wish he would pay attention to ME when we're out.


Sadie: Did I do the right thing by becoming Heir? I don't like what Alice said about my children... :-/


She's still very pretty, but I think she needs another hair.


Ferrett made a fruit salad to celebrate that it was almost her birthday.


Jonathan: Hey, you're the guy who almost became my Great-Great-Grandmother's fourth husband, instead of Legolas.

Malcolm: Let's just say it's weird how things turn out, eh.


Jonathan: Look. There's my uncle!


Parsley: I'M GONNA KILL GARGARNEY!

Malcolm: I admire a fiery temper and strong determination in a youngster.


I'm sure he does.


Jonathan: Hi, uncle! Nice to meet you.

Parsley: I hope you're not as stupid as you look, because you look a LOT like your Dad.


Velma: The local rag says that the mysterious axe-murderer who terrorized the region many years ago has... not been seen recently. They've really run out of headlines, haven't they?


Jonathan: Okay, I have to go now, but I had a great time. :) Happy Birthday, Ferrett!


Whoo!


Louise: ...and remember: Go on Super Nanny!

How will Ferrett like it as Head of House? That will be answered... suddenly. :D

Comments

[alittlestrange.livejournal.com]

Yay! Did you get the surfing mod from MTS? Wait'll you see it in action! It will show up in the Duckling legacy sooner or later.

LOL Alan. If he'd been an immortal, he'd have wanted to be a werewolf, too. Then the crime syndicate would have been an evil werewolf pack instead of guys running around in goofy costumes. It's still hard to think of Alan as evil. That hairstyle looks hilarious on him, BTW.

I WILL NEUTER YOU ALL! D:<

I would think this was Narrator's attempt to hijack, but neuter is spelled correctly.

I LOLed at "Greg" and the arrow pointing to him. First rule of business, Greg: location, location, location. Do not panhandle outside your stately home.

I'm leaving it up, to see if it works itself out.

Apparently it did, because I'm seeing the correct image. I saw the imgur substitute in 4.5.

Wow, I can only imagine what Narrator is going to say about Bertie and Greg!

I like the new bowling building! OMSPs are fun to decorate with...when you have the patience. X)

I LOVE SHARKEY'S NEW LOOK. That mustache goes perfectly with the nose!

I could kick Ettie out, too. Yeah, that's right. I could download Kevin Duckling, and have them get married and have lots of little axe-murderers.

Do it! They won't be able to reproduce in my game, so your neighborhood is the only place where we can see what completely harmless-looking children they could have.

Wow, Rowland, that's just...scary.

KEELY! I haven't seen her around anywhere in a long time.

Malcolm is Eyebrow Man, right? He's a scary dude, too.

Oh, and about your screen size, let's see if I can get my brain to pump out some info: first you need to know your screen resolution if you don't already. I think you can find out in Control Panel/Hardware and Sound/Display/Adjust Resolution. There should be a drop-down box thingie called Resolution. Whatever its highest/recommended setting is will tell you what your screen resolution is. Probably. And there's probably a better way than that, but that's what I came up with.

Then you need to download this tool and follow the instructions on the page. Toward the bottom of the page, under the Sims 2 Tweaks heading, there are some explanations for what the settings do.

Then launch the game and go into the Graphics/Performance Options (the monitor icon). Under Screen Size, your screen resolution should now be on the list. Select it, apply changes, and zapola! You'll no longer have a tiny window. At least I think so.

[tigerannesims2.livejournal.com]

Yep, it's the "Surf's Up!" or whatever it's called, from MTS. :D StarblO0bs are up next, so I'm looking forward to having them cowabunga a bit.

I could definitely cheat Beau and Alan into werewolves. SimPE could probably do it, but I've been meaning to customize the exterior of their townhouse a bit, and then I can snap pictures of them transforming. :) Alan's the victim of an unfortunate(?) case of default replacement. I snickered the first time I saw his new "do".

I *will* neuter them all! At least I'll make them all related, so they can't heart each other. Luckily, I think the only two cases of autonomous romance I've had my Sims commit were Elliott/Brandi and Phil/babysitter.

Bertie's probably going to be some sort of skulking menace, in the hands of Narrator. Serial poisoner or something. Greg will, of course, be a shameless conman. :D

Ettie + Kevin = True. It will happen! I'll have to do a "special feature" on them.

"Eyebrow Man" would have been a good name for Malcolm! It's Gilbert Jaquet who Narrator has assigned that moniker to, though. His blonde eyebrows don't match his black hair.

I've got that program, and I've got the game resolution cranked up to the highest it offered. When I go into the options in the game, I still only have the option of 600x860 or whatever the lowest one is. :( Not sure how to fix the tinyness.

Okay, gotta run. Am usurping computer at work. :D

[alittlestrange.livejournal.com]

Belinda's a Knowledge Sim, too. She'll probably want to howl at the moon with her husband and son. Ooooh, I'll bet she'd make an adorable werewolf!

Yay! I'm looking forward to Kevin and Ettie sprogs.

Maybe you should try to change the resolution manually? Here's a guide. It has little fluttering snowflakes and everything. Wheee. It refers to the Ultimate Collection, so obviously the location of your GraphicsRules.sgr will be different. Probably in your Mansion and Garden/TSData/Res/Config folder path thingamabob.

[tigerannesims2.livejournal.com]

I tried changing the resolution manually before, and any changes I made refused to be saved. :( Actually, I was hoping there was some sort of cheat to use with the "-w" for windowed mode, that bumped the window to a larger size. The game window looks the same at 1280x720 as it did at 800x600, but the graphics inside it looks better, of course. I don't really think that changing the resolution any other way will make any difference to the size of the window. But thanks for helping me out, anyway.

[alittlestrange.livejournal.com]

Awwwh! Unfortunately we're at the end of my knowledge/experience with screen resolution problems. :( Maybe you can find somebody else who knows more. But I wanted to ask, just out of curiosity, is the screen still tiny even without windowed mode?

[tigerannesims2.livejournal.com]

No, it's just in windowed mode.

[(Anonymous)]

Refused to be saved? That happens if you try to save the file in the programs directory. You need to move the file to the desktop first before editing it; that way, the computer will ask you, "do we haz admin permissionz???" and you're like, "YES, I AM the admin, after all!!!" and then the GraphicRules will save with no further trouble.

[tigerannesims2.livejournal.com]

I tried that, and saving worked. :) Thanks! I'm still not getting any bigger screen, though, but let's see if the graphics aren't a little better.