A New Generation

Hey, everyone! In the unlikely even that anyone revisits this site after my long absence, I felt compelled to post at least once more, just so you don't think I dropped off the face of the earth (which isn't too far from the truth). I haven't posted any Sims related material here for a long time for a good reason - I got a new PC, and my Sim families didn't make the transition from the old to the new. Understandably, I didn't feel like starting again from scratch. Well, then I discovered the Sims 2 not too long ago, and decided it was time for the "next generation" of Monkeesims. I haven't played nearly as many families this time around, and I only have a couple of the expansions, so things aren't quite as wild as they once were, but here's a look at the Monkeesims world years after our last post...

Well, first of all, only a couple of the families made the transition from the original Monkeesims neighborhood to the new one. First and foremost were Matt and Branson Martin, since the characters are based on my wife and I, and it just didn't seem right to "leave myself behind". Being the first family placed in the Sims 2, they had the dubious honor of being the guinea pigs for me while I tried to figure out how to play the game (purchased used without a manual). How did I do? Well, if you're familiar with TS2, I think the picture below sort of tells most of that story...

Matt: "Some-bunny is bugging the hell out of me!"

As usual, I fell into the trap of creating the Matt sim to be too much like myself, and although he had a much different home than I do in RL, it was still like being me puttering around the house all day. In short, it was getting kind of boring. It wasn't long before Matt was off visiting other (less boring) houses taking advantage of social networks to exploit the resources of others. Below from left to right, we see Matt, Leon Hartman, Rinoa Hartman, and Schroeder Fultz (that's Tommy Wolf, with his furry head barely visible in the background).

Rinoa desperately searches for any topic to discuss besides herself...

The theme of most of my "simming" sessions was something like this - Matt goes to work, comes home and recovers, throws party, rinse, repeat. There was some slight variation when he had days off, but for the most part, not really. Then one day, Matt Martin was robbed by a sim named Jenna Boyle, who he witnessed in his house but was unable to stop. He quickly called the Daniels family, which consisted of Clarence Andrews on the criminal career track, and Jack Daniels, a jobless pirate. The two of them lured the burglar to their house with a crank call, and shortly after, Jenna had died in a freak indoor barbecue "accident". Thus, the Daniels family began (as did their trend of filling their back yard with tombstones).

Well, the Daniels family turned out to be more fun than the Matt and Branson Martin family, so I quickly changed my focus. The notorious Jack Daniels fell in love with a local hoochie named Regina Boyle (possible relation to the late Jenna) and married her. Shortly after, Clarence wooed and married the household maid, Amy Andrews. Below, we see Regina to the far right, and Amy three over...off partying at the Hartman house instead of taking care of their own.

Regina: "You'd better get a roof put on this place or you'll get soaked when it rains!"

Try as they might, the Daniels/Andrews family had a tough time pulling off the whole "normal, domesticated" bit. Jack and Clarence worked hard at their jobs (Jack as a chef and Clarence as a science test subject), but Jack got canned after endorsing the spork, and Clarence just wasn't bringing home enough bacon to feed all the mouths in the house. Well, I don't like using the money cheat, but I decided it would be okay if the family housed "guests" in the form of new sims added to the family to share the house for the small cost of $20.000. Of course, I decided they should be totally autonomous, since I had my hands full with the actual family members. The first was Old Codger, who died of causes unknown when I wasn't looking (his tombstone was simply discovered sitting behind the house). Next was Felmer McNugget, who died of complications related to a ghost scare. Last was Homie D. Klown, who managed to outlive all the others and eventually move out. Below, we see Homie and Amy sharing a quiet (i.e. boring) moment in the house.

Amy: "I thought clowns were supposed to be funny! Entertain me, clown!"

As if having four ghosts in the house wasn't bad enough (ol' Morty Roth bit the dust in a hot tub fire during one visit), Clarence had to complicate matters by fooling around with and getting bitten by a wolf with weird glowing eyes. Next thing you know, he was grouchy, snarling fleabag, leaving trash everywhere and making his fellow sims pee themselves with his howling. Of course, that was a small price to pay for Clarence, since for him, it meant being able to party all night long and not having to shave since "it would just grow back at 8pm anyway"...

Clarence: "Another couple bites, then it's time for my flea dip..."

Well, as if things weren't screwed up enough, someone picked up the phone to order pizza one day, and accidentally ordered a kid from the adoption agency instead (I'm not joking). To my chagrin, there was no way to cancel the delivery after the call was made (for the kid, not the pizza), and so days later, Vyn Daniels, the daughter Jack and Regina never wanted, was delivered to the house. That was it - things were getting too crowded. Homie D. Klown packed his bags and moved out, and Clarence and Amy followed shortly after. They got their own place, and after savaging local Tommy Wolf and passing on the lycanthropy curse, Clarence got himself cured. For the moment, he and Amy had achieved some sort of normalcy.

Amy: "It's so nice to be away from those socially retarded freaks!"

About this time, I devoted most of my efforts to playing the newly constructed Andrews house, and left Matt Martin and the Daniels family behind. They were a bunch of losers anyway. While Clarence spent his days toiling away on the science track (and actually making pretty good progress), Amy had the arduous task of hanging out at home all day long watching TV and throwing parties. Luckily for her, there were plenty of jobless sims always willing to drop by and hang out, especially with the prospect of free food...here, we see Amy hanging out with her good friend, Jimmy "Jowls" Jones...

Amy: "What's he hiding in those cheeks?"

After Amy had acquired sufficient friends to assure Clarence's rise to the top of the scientific profession (assuming he could get his butt in gear and get the skill points he needed), Clarence decided it was time to make her life a little more complicated, and viola! Amy was knocked up! Aside from an annoying inability to enter the hot tubs and some truly ugly clothes she was forced to wear, though, Amy suffered no ill effects from being pregnant. Well, there was one side-effect that eventually occurred...she did get stuck with a baby, who she proceeded to name Aiden Andrews (then proceeded to set him down on the kitchen floor so she could go play piano).

Amy: "How am I supposed to socialize with only one arm?"

Well, Aiden grew up badly (or so the "memory" icons told me) into an annoying toddler, then an annoying child with a D+ grade average. Now, I know I hadn't had a lot of Sims 2 kid experience before Aiden came along, but Vyn Daniels made it to teenager with pretty decent grades, so I don't know what Aiden's problem was. Maybe it was those days he didn't do his homework, or missed the school bus because he was busy fishing in the pond out back. Or maybe it was the constant, steady flow of losers visiting the Andrews house to fulfill Amy's massive social appetite...it's hard to say...

On that note, Amy started visiting downtown lots to find new friends, because the 15+ she'd acquired by this point just wasn't enough. On one such outing, she met Count Derek (can't remember his last name), a not-so dashing vampire with a penchant for alcoholic drinks and karaoke. Amy was quick to befriend him and start inviting him over in the evenings after normal people had gone to bed and would refuse such invitations (besides Tommy Wolf, who Clarence had gifted with lycanthropy). They became fast friends, although she apparently hasn't seen many vampire flicks, because she (and I) didn't see what was coming until it was too late...oops...

Amy: "I don't suppose I can work on my tan now, either!"

Nice one, Amy! Talk about ways to give your already screwed up son more of a complex! Well, despite the ability to turn into a bat (which I thought was quite cool) and the infinite night time need energy, Amy basically decided vampirism sucked (har, har) and wasn't for her. She did make sure to bite one of her friends, Alfred Witte, before buying a cure, just so she could say she did (and here he thought she was making a pass at him). Strangely, he remained her friend afterward. Sims...I tell you, I just don't get them...

Clarence was dangerously close to reaching the top of his career, and spent endless hours toiling on his medicine making gadget out in the back yard to build up his last needed logic skills. However, just as he was about to be awarded that final point, he was struck by lightning. If that's not some sort of sign from above, I don't know what is! Well, some might have been phased by such a traumatic experience, but not Clarence. He just peed his pants and went to lie down on the couch. His new charbroiled color matches the couch quite nicely...

Clarence: "At least it spared me my underwear..."

Well, being struck by lightning isn't the worst thing in the world. He could still be a werewolf, or have a vampire for a wife, but no! Clarence and Amy were nice enough to pass those things on to Alfred and Tommy instead! Alfred took it upon himself to move in with Tommy after he became a creature of the night. They formed a relationship based on the one thing they shared in common...you guessed it...their love of cooking shows!

Tommy: "I don't know about you, but I definitely prefer my meat red!"

Well, anyway, that pretty much sums up the most exciting events in the early days of the new Monkeesims neighborhood. Kitty and Marty Wilson eventually made the transition to the new town, although they came without the rest of the Wilson family, and live in a grimy little trailer instead of an enormous party house. Leon Jackson also came solo and moved into a very sweet looking boat in his own private "Pimp Harbor" with no sign of his old roommates. There's been no sign of the Millers at all in the new town...big relief there, eh?

Well, I think that's about it for now. I'm not sure whether I'll post anything new in the near future here. I really think I sort of missed the boat as far as having people read this blog is concerned (besides a couple of family members), and I don't want to post too much just for my own benefit. If you've read this, drop me a line. I'd love to hear from you (even if I don't get around to posting anything right away again). Take care, everyone, and keep simming! :)