4.32 Snap

Orazia may be a teen now, but her interests haven't changed since childhood, and her best friend is still her baby sister.

 

Her alchemy lab has changed a lot, though. 

She's too badass to need the protective gear anymore.

Though mistakes do happen...

Milo has reached career level 9, Superstar, and goes to work in a fancy suit.

"You look like a tool," Ceth informs him.

I don't know what this is.

Ike and Eggs there are married, but they still want to take turns harassing Shannon (the blue guy).

Shannon hooked up with some Starlight Shores lady after the game in chapter 84, by the way, so I let him stay in the town to have a family.

Milo is determined to get to fishing skill level 10. Bringing his daughters to the beach for bonding time is just a bonus.

Orazia doesn't like fishing. She wonders if her father will ever take the hint.

She finds other ways to amuse herself.

With the girls gone for the afternoon, Dysen and Acheron sneak into the girls' bedroom for TV. It's so not fair that Orazia and Fairuza get their own TV.

Gossiping about the girls probably.

Dysen decides to watch a "martial arts-thriller" called Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky.

Poor Acheron is not a fan of such gory violence in films.

"It doesn't even look real," Dysen admonishes.

"I don't care. I can't help imagining what it would really feel like," Acheron replies.

Dysen smirks. "You are such a baby."

"Can we please just watch something else?" 

Acheron's pleas are only met with laughter.

"You're such a loser, your mom didn't even want you." Dysen's frequent quarrels with his cousins are not over anything in particular. He just likes getting a rise out of them.

"Your mom eats rocks!" Fairuza shoots back. "That makes you an alien who should go back to Xnargleflab too, because nobody wants you here."

"My home planet is probably awesome." And probably not called Xnargleflab.

"How could you be so cruel to each other?" Orazia bursts out of her alchemy closet to have an over-emotional reaction. "Stop fighting this instant!"

"We're not fighting," Fairuza and Dysen groan in unison.

Orazia turns away from them, also concerned about the child playing by himself in the corner. "Are you alright, Acheron? They're not picking on you, are they?"

"I don't know, I wasn't paying attention," Acheron mumbles.

Some extra pictures. 

Fairuza spends many hours chatting on her phone with her many schoolfriends.

Sassy.

Carlos tries to figure out what Acheron's favorite food is.

Fairuza is pretty vocal about what her favorite food is, but she's not opposed to seeing if her mind can be changed.

Ceth's favorite food is probably a liquid.

Someone should really get that changing table out of the boys' room.

There we go.

Their room still has the vestiges of being a nursery, but what can they do? Their parents won't let them remove all of the cute paintings and bird stuff.

Dysen's mobile was going to go, but Acheron put it above his own bed instead. It gives him something to stare at when he can't sleep.

Yaaay, block toys. Dysen approves.

Sims roll wishes to put the holiday lights up, but never roll wishes to take them down.

Carlos has a midlife crisis and rolls a wish for a new car, though... which is reasonable, considering how much money the household has now, and how everyone's just been using Lela's car all this time.

"That is the most embarrassing thing I've ever seen," Ceth makes it known she will not be caught dead in this floral-patterned car.

Lela has arguably gotten better with this camouflage thing. 

Too bad all she ever gets to spy on are boring love affairs. 

Another case closed. Time to celebrate.

"Lela? You're standing in the rain." Officer Worthington pops open an umbrella over Lela's head. He worries about his friend sometimes.

Rain rain rain rain rain rain raaaaain.

Is he off duty, or does he just think he looks more attractive in uniform?

Either way, he's not Ceth's type. He should have been a firefighter.

Nobody can resist a firefighter.

Cutest couple in the house is also the only couple in the house.

Bad dreams.

Always bad dreams.

The cat cocks its head to the side. "I wait for your return, Selrandisra."

Acheron is not surprised to hear it speak. "You always say that," he replies.

"Aye, but you never listen."

"I'm not that person."

"You HAVE to learn!" the sorceress yells.

"What have you done to me?" Acheron asks, fear causing his voice to tremble.

Claire frowns at his tone. "Do you feel different?"

"What—"

She shushes him, placing a finger on his lips. "I found a way to remove your blood curse. I want you to live. I want you to find our son..."

"Claire, I don't want this!" His pleas are unheard.

She's dead.

"What... what the hell was that?" Acheron gasps.

The elder mage stares at him curiously. "Gnomes teleport when they're stressed. No need to panic."

"Gnomes?"

"You know... your average garden variety gnomes..." A pause. Those creepy ears fold down and backwards, ducking under strands of hair. "Are you sure you're feeling alright?"

"You didn't even look for me!"

Acheron is accused of something that is true.

"Do you think we have free will?" Chet asks.

"I try not to think about it," Acheron lies.

"You cozied up with that evil witch. She had your child. It was unavoidable. It had to happen. The spell that binds the universe always pulls the right strings. It did so with you, with your parents, with their parents... right down to your hair color. What do you call that, if not a violation of free will?"

"Our existence may be written. What we do with it isn't."

Her eyes turn angry. "You're parroting my father. What do you really think?"

This is a dangerous game. If she knew what he was really thinking, her fangs would quickly find his throat. It takes all of his mental focus to—

Snap.

There's no sleeping through that one.

It's been raining all week, and, much to everyone's dismay, Leisure Day is no exception. 

Milo is up first thing in the morning to survey the situation. The news is calling for hail.

"We're not going to grill hot dogs in the park, are we?" Dysen mopes.

Milo frowns. He promised them grilled hot dogs in the park, but sometimes promises just can't be kept. "You'll have to find something else to do. I'm sure you can manage. ... Acheron, how long have you been out here?"

"I couldn't sleep," Acheron says.

"I'm not convinced he sleeps at all," Dysen says.

Acheron stares at nothing, eyes unfocused. He decided to sleep on the patio chair because it's closer to his mother, directly under her separate 'apartment'... but he's not going to admit to that.

Playing outside is a no-go, but playing on the covered porch is OK. Dysen invites his best friend Molly over so he doesn't have to feel so bummed about how the day turned out.

Later they go inside to play with toys. Molly chooses the rabbit thing with flowers painted on it, as she is always drawn to pretty, colorful things. Dysen goes for the attacking sea monster toy, and Fairuza wants to play the military tank assigned to take the monster down.

Orazia spends Leisure Day like she spends every non-school day... happily reading books or practicing her spellcraft.

Milo spends Leisure Day watching sports on TV.

Lela and Carlos spend Leisure Day working, because this is what brings them happiness.

Ceth and Acheron spend much of the day slouched in Ceth's lounge chairs.

They take a break (from lounging) for a singing lesson. 

The clouds finally begin to part, just in time for sunset.



______________________________________________________________________
Etc.: Cat???

This generation's rolled parameters have been met except for Misc. Fun, which is Gourmet. The rules say I need to make everyone's favorite food at least once, and have it normal quality or higher. I feel this is too easy, so I'm aiming for perfect quality. It's taking longer than expected.