Welcome

I decided to create this blog, just to compare notes on the most popular neighborhood in Sims 2–Pleasantview (PV for short).  Though EA’s Sims 2 message board is not as active as it used to be, I’ve noticed that the “What did you do with Pleasantview?” threads are still popular.  This is to be like one long “What did you do with Pleasantview?” thread.

I’ll start with a few (or several) recap posts for what I’ve done so far with the families.  If you also play Pleasantview and its premade characters, and would like to add your own stories, please drop me a line, check the “Join us” page or add a comment to this post!

PS: If you have a similar site for another Sims premade neighborhood, or would like to start one, let me know.  Maybe we can link to each other.

Movin’ on Up

Two beautiful young people reached perma-plat in Pleasantview this week – one by fulfilling her Lifetime Want, the other by fulfilling enough milestones in his life. I’m talking about Pleasantview’s hottest young power couple, Beau Broke and Artemisia Goth-Lothario Broke.

Artemisia, the daughter of the now-gone-to-Splitsville duo consisting of Don Lothario and Cassandra Goth, topped her career at the Science Center. Beau and Artemisia had been residing at Beau’s birth residence since their marriage. (Brandi had long since moved to a ranch house down the street from the Dreamers.) However, the young couple began to think about starting a family once Artemisia topped her career and definitely had the funds to buy a larger home.

Here they are after their move, getting to know some of their new neighbors:

The New Broke House

Meeting the Neighbors (Artemisia and Ginger Newson)

Beau Skills Up (Artemisa, Beau, Becky Locke)

And for some reason, I decided to have Artemisia learn to make a new dessert and eat it. I’ll let you be the judge on why.

Say Cheesecake

There’s Magic in the Air in Pleasantview Classic

Everything old is new again. That seems to be the catchphrase these days in Pleasantview Classic.  Oh yes, closet Romance Sim John Burb better watch out, making eyes at very pregnant Brandi Broke, because apparently she is NOT a widow after all!

Thou Shalt Not Covet Thy Neighbor’s Wife, John.

What’s that, you say? Not a widow? That’s right? Skip is back in town, charming Brandi’s socks off as I write!

Hey baby hey baby hey baby hey!

This, of course, has made things considerably easier on Brandi, leaving her free to rest and earn money doling out stock tips online while Skip potty trains Beau and teaches him how to smooth talk the ladies.

“Say Lady’s Man.”

Beau, elated at finally meeting his Daddy, grew up well.

Indeed, it’s been a veritable resurrection day in Pleasantview. Strange things have been afoot. Nina and Dina were dancing on their roof, and the next thing they knew, a distinguished gentleman joined the party…

¡Dios mío, que es un milagro!

Of course, the Event of the Century in Pleasantview Classic is the upcoming wedding at the Goth mansion. The Goths were touched by the miracles as well. Happily, Grandpa Gunther and Grandma Cornelia returned from the dead to join the festivities and boo Don’s amateurish piano playing while waiting for the guests to arrive. Bella, unfortunately, is still missing in action. That isn’t to say that she won’t show up, of course. With this kind of an atmosphere, anything can happen. In fact, you never know who might show up at this wedding. This might just turn out to be the Wedding of the Century.

Miracle at the Goth Compound

A Bridal Shower for an Orphan

This post is wayyyyyyyyyyyy overdue, but I’ve had some internet connection issues. Anyway, enjoy the pictures!

The Bridal Shower

The Sleekoducklings Chow Down

Ginger Joins the Meal

Glen Brings a Bouquet for Mom

And Then Mom Starts Breaking out the Gifts

Welcome to the Family!

Here's Another Present, Ginger!

And Another.

And of Course I Haven't Forgotten Glen.

A Good Time for All.

Hey there everyone!

Welp. I’ve been meaning to do this for a while.

I’m Warp, well its obviously not my real name, but its the name I go by here on the World Wide Web.

I recently reset my Pleasantview and started playing from the beginning… with the Caliente sisters.

Dina is engaged to Mortimer and Nina has renovated the house to start a home salon.

(I also gave Nina and Dina both a makeover)

There’s Nina at home about to go out with Dina to get the wedding dress!

The sisters seem to be getting a long better since Dina got engaged could it be that they are finally getting along… or is Nina just happy to see her sister gone?

Only time will tell I guess!

Anyway,

I look forward to meeting y’all and having a fair bit of fun.

(P.S I’m going to have to add some sub-hoods soon, colleges and shopping districts are where I sort of fail! So, I am going to need some ideas /hinthint)

The Little Girl Who Was Different

Beetles, Butterflies, Spiders.

Any nature-loving Sim knows their significance. Beetles, butterflies, spiders.

Ladybugs, ground beetles, dung beetles, scarabs, Xerces blue, Monarch, Swallowtail, Duke of Burgundy, Common Jezebel. All nine of those have two pairs of wings. All nine of those have six legs. All nine of those have three body segments. The orb weaver. Two body segments. Eight legs. No wings.

Beetles, Butterflies, Spiders.

A little girl went out one night to collect bugs, to collect beetles, butterflies and spiders. She went out. Out she went, and a bug she found. One little bug, one special little bug, the first to go into her collection, her collection of beetles, butterflies and spiders.

Come back in, her parents said, come inside, take a bath, and do something more ladylike. You’re getting really grubby from crawling on the ground outside. Come inside now and act like a lady.

Beetles, Butterflies and Spiders!

It wasn’t fair, what they were asking. Tosha liked it outside. She wanted to go hiking. She liked collecting bugs. She wanted a dog to play fetch with outside. She hoped to play catch with her cousin while he was visiting for the summer. She didn’t want to sit in that stuffy house with the pink carpets and cutesy pink bunny rabbit wallpaper and that horrible dollhouse her parents actually thought she would like. It was stifling. She wanted to be out. Out, collecting beetles, butterflies and spiders.

Anatoly and Helena dreamed of having a little girl for a long time. When they arrived in the country and bought their first house, it was like a dream-come-true when they were allowed to paint the entire house in pink.

Indeed, young Anatoly and Helena could not wait to fill the house with the one last thing it was missing. They even bought all the right toys in eager anticipation.

 

However, as the little toddler blossomed into the little tomboy, it was becoming more and more apparent that little Tosha was more interested in filling her bug jar than she was with playing with the neglected dollhouse and toy oven in her bedroom. Indeed, those toys saw more use from her cousin Brandon than they ever did from little Tosha. Anatoly and Helena were becoming concerned and pondered calling professional help.

 

Helena spent many late nights on the computer trying to find out why little Tosha was acting the way she was. The couple was at a loss for an explanation.

Meanwhile, little Tosha suspected something she was doing was deeply disappointing her parents, but she did not know why. She just wanted to play outside with her bugs and the fresh air. She did not understand why that upset her parents so. She tried to do what they wanted her to do. She sat at the pink desk they bought her and tried to study.

She really tried. As any bug collector can tell you, however, spiders do not have wings, and no matter how much you try, you can’t teach one to fly. Being indoors began to take its toll on little Tosha and the child began to snap.

 

Tempting as it is to end this story with a “happily ever after”, this  is, after all, a prequel, and it merely ends at the beginning of the normal story. And so, Gentle Reader, the happy ending is that little Tosha survived her unhappy childhood without being taken away by the Social Worker.

However: the tragedy of the situation is that one can assume that little Tosha did not Grow Up Well. This isn’t a surprise, is it? We are talking, after all, about the teen with whom every other teen in Pleasantview rolls the Want to Sneak Out. You didn’t seriously think that little delinquent had a happy childhood, did you? It’s the least that could have happened to her after knowing what kind of havoc she ultimately creates for the Broke household and other families in Pleasantview as a teen, right? But do not be too quick to judge – Miss Go is a Family Sim – and she might just surprise you at how good of one she might be.

As a child, however, little Tosha was different. She was like the lone arachnid on display among the rows of beetles and butterflies, among all those beetles, butterflies and spiders.

Sleekoduck on Keeping It Real

This is just a general soapbox post from yours truly because I read a very disturbing article in the paper yesterday about several bloggers pretending to be people they weren’t in the last few weeks. You can also see that I actually do own that outfit you see my Simself wearing in the Newson Bridal Shower pictures.

Six Pleasantviews – One after the Apocalypse

As you know, I decided to foray into the realm of science fiction and design a Pleasantview that had survived an attack by UFOs. The premise was that aliens had dropped satellites on all the males of Pleasantview, except for Darren Dreamer, who had run off to the foothills in an ambulance with his coworker Brandi Broke and her toddler Beau Broke. To avoid detection, they performed an “emergency surgical procedure” on poor Beau (now Beaurina), who also survived the alien attack. One other male human Sim in Pleasantview survived the alien attack, simply because I was unable to kill him with Rodney’s Death Creator, and that Sim, of course, was Garrett Newson.

So here is the first slide show of the carnage faced by the binned families (Picaso, Newson, Goodie, Gavigan, Roseland and Cooke):

Slide Show: Team Picaso

http://youtu.be/pWtidalUUFg

In spite of what the slideshow seems to indicate, the entire neighborhood was bordering on Aspiration Failure. And here is where my sadistic Germano-Dutch genetic/nurturing comes in: this was a lot of fun for me. I’ll tell you right now, the Sim who handled the entire situation the very worst was, not-so-surprisingly, Lucy Burb. The girl turned into a bully and showed up at the Lothario-Goth household randomly terrorizing Cassandra’s and Dina’s daughters for several days until I finally played her and calmed her down a bit. Although I haven’t stuck to the strict Apocalypse rules of only allowing my Simmies to work as novelists, I have tried to keep them working at home. Jessica Picaso surprised me, since I hadn’t realized that she already came with a job. (It was my first time playing her character.) Somehow her profession suited the scenario, so I let her keep her job.) Faith Goodie absolutely insisted upon finding a job, and since she’s getting on in years, I let her find one, but made her quit it immediately afterward. She finally started rolling skill wants after that and recovering from her nervous breakdown, which I was fortunate enough to capture on film for you, gentle reader.

One annoying challenge was that many of the female Sims were turning out to be Tinkering Sims, and I suspect there is only so much demand for robots in a small neighborhood full of war widows like Pleasantview. Even I get tired of watching restoreable cars getting built (that one was my fault – I brought the wrong Kaylynn into the Pleasant household by accident, so Team Picaso now has one of the Gearheads in their bunch now), so by the time Mary Gavigan let me know how much she enjoyed that Tinkering Activity!, I let her know I noticed that she’s very interested in discussing fashion as well, and bought her a sewing machine. She loves it.

For now I’ll focus on what has been going on with “Team Picaso”… then I’ll fill you in on the other two clusters in Pleasantview. I’ve got six Pleasantviews and I have been rotating among them, not to mention my other blogs I’ve been managing. I’m also moving this month, so please be patient with me. It will take me a while to get caught up on everything…

Back to Team Picaso…

Obviously, Jessica was devastated to lose Matthew. She has tried to keep a strong exterior, especially in front of the children, but she falls apart when she is alone. And oh, I had to do something about that hair. I’m sorry, my mother came from a military family and I grew up in a military town and I know enough about military matters to know that Jessica would not be allowed to show up for work with her golden tresses flowing free like Barbie’s as they do when the game begins, so I made her put her hair up, military style. She actually made a raspberry in the vanity mirror when she looked at it. Too bad, Jessica – no one forced you to join the military. I would have bought you a sewing machine if you wanted one. Or a robot station. Have we calmed down now? That’s better.

I did not want Gabriella witnessing any of that carnage – it was bad enough that any of the other Sims had to be there for it, so the first thing I did when it was RDC time for the Newsons was send little Gabbie off to school. Then I bought a spool and phone, had Ginger call a nanny, and the satellites began to fall. I’ve always liked Gallagher and really hated watching that part, but, you know, those aliens are nasty critters and all… Gavin heroically moved one of the toddlers out of the path of a falling satellite shortly before his demise. Surprisingly, Family Sim Ginger survived the ordeal without going into Aspriation Failure (although we all know she’s a closet Popularity Sim anyway), but it wasn’t long after I combined the Newson and Picaso households before she started throwing temper tantrums. Fortunately she had mother-figure Jessica around to guide her through it and help her with her homework.

One thing the Picaso-Newson household is not lacking is funds. After witnessing the deaths of her comrades Cyd Roseland and Julienne Cooke, Jessica Picaso found herself a very wealthy beneficiary and also the owner of a miniature pitbull by the name of Porthos. The Family Sim now owns a four-bedroom, three-bathroom barn-style mansion complete with the 8,000 Simolean TV, pool, trainset, and, of course, lots of plants for her private bathroom, since Nature is her chosen hobby. The household also has a Toybench, since Ginger does not work after school, and, quite frankly, doesn’t strike me as a particularly strong student if she goes to college, since she does seem to suffer from a Sim version of Attention Deficit Disorder. (Lest you think I’m treating this matter insensitively, I myself am diagnosed with ADHD, so I’m allowed to talk about the subject frankly.)

Faith Goodie, as you can see in the slideshow, had a nervous breakdown when Herbert was killed. I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to keep her alive. I’ve had problems with her household, even now. She loves to cook. I decided to move her next door to Jennifer Burb in one of the sets of duplex houses I lined up on the house that formerly contained all those bungalows where the Calientes and Don Lothario lived. (It is now called Don Lothario Lane.) As she maxed out her Cooking Skill and Culinary Enthusiasm, I discovered that one cannot open a business in an Apartment Lot, so Faith Goodie became the first Sim to move out of her apartment and buy a house. She now lives in a townhouse and sells platters of Lobster Thermadore at 179 Simoleans a pop from her kitchen to her neighbors. She loves her job. Her first employee was Nina Caliente, who is competent cashier who works for payable wages. Faith then wanted to hire Jennifer as a sales clerk, and I was like, good idea! Why not? Jennifer has nothing better to do than give stock advice online and pet skunks anyway – go for it! So Faith Goodie hired Jennifer for 22 Simoleans per hour and then I checked the meter and it said Jennifer Burb was grossly underpaid for reasons completely beyond my comprehension. Jennifer Burb had no badges and no skill points… except, aha! Three cooking points. But Jennifer Burb would not be doing any cooking. I did not understand this. I kept giving her raises until it said she was receiving a fair wage… at… get this: 88 Simleons per hour! (Mind you, Jennifer Burb will sit in the living room watching Woohoo movies if she isn’t told to get back to work, so it’s not like she autonomously earns those 88 Simoleons, either.) So Faith Goodie is barely breaking even with the business just to pay Jennifer Burb. It’s a good thing she owns the house and that it already has lots of solar panels. I don’t know what I’m going to do when Nina starts getting skill badges, although now it’s starting to say that Jennifer is overpaid again. WTF???

Now Mary Gavigan seems to be a raging success story, so she’s going off rotation for a while. I’m actually worried that Gordon Wolcenko might break her heart and ruin everything, or she might become so successful it might throw everything else off for the rest of the neighborhood.

As I mentioned earlier, Mary is a Tinkering Sim, and after a Tinkering Coral and two Tinkring Kaylynns, I had had enough Tinkering Sims in Pleasantview, so I quickly perused her favorite discussion topics and noticed that she was a fashion maven. That was my excuse to buy a sewing machine for one of my Sims. I had never had one of my Sims build up enough enthusiasm and badges to find out what a Gold Sewing Badge can do, so I was looking forward to finding out, and I was not disappointed. Mary loves her artificially imposed hobby and looks forward to blogging about it first thing in the morning every day. She often dreams about it, too. Since she does love talking about fashion, and this is an Apocalypse-style scenario, I didn’t think it appropriate to include community lots in Pleasantview, so if the little Simmies want new clothes, they can buy them from Mary Gavigan now. Once she moved out of Faith Goodie’s old duplex, she bought a ranch house that looks an awful lot like that cheapest one that comes in the bin, except that the second bedroom has an outside door so that it can be used as a boutique shop. She hired Danielle Lilliard and I forget the name of the other townie, but he is no longer pursuing a life of crime, thanks to the Widow Gavigan. They are competent employees, but neither of them showed up at the employee party I had her throw on a Sunday morning, so Mary had to call them up and remind them to come over for some toaster pastries and 80s tunes. They ended up having a good time and are now good friends. Mary also wants to get engaged to her beau Gordon (she scoped him out when there were a lot of men in the room), although she is of that ilk that will just give a passionate liplockin’ kiss goodbye to any man in the room. It’s just her way of showing affection, especially since men are in short supply in Pleasantview. She loves Gordon, though.

Slide Show: Team Pleasant

http://youtu.be/gIbDzEBQkrk

Team Pleasant, of course, is the group that includes the Dreamer/Broke household. Technically, lazy Sims Darren and Brandi haven’t found their orderly/EMT jobs yet, since I just moved them into their little ranch house in the foothills of the edge of Pleasantview (with a fabulous view of some UFO wreckage), but Darren has rolled the Want and it’s locked in place. (No doubt, he’ll roll the Want to Quit said Job two days later, but I’ll deal with that when that time comes. The compound does have a Floral Station in case either of those two slackers get any ideas, though.) Darren and Brandi did have time to run back to their houses and grab some of their favorite schlock to fill up the cabin before they left, so you will no doubt recognize Darren’s spools, Brandi’s flamingo lights and apple-woman painting, and some of our other favorite (let’s call a spade a spade) CRAP from their houses, along with a lot of stolen medical equipment, some of which was used to turn poor little Beau into Beaurina to keep him from suffering the same fate as Isaiah Gavigan and Gallagher Newson. I was able to link the families to their grandchildren (Ruby Broke and Jayde Dreamer) through the magic of SimBlender, although it is beyond the game’s ability to comprehend that the missing link between Darren Dreamer and Jayde Dreamer is probably the late Dirk Dreamer or likewise between Brandi and Ruby being the late Dustin Broke. Because of all the move-ins and move-outs, the household was starting to acquire a glut of funds, so I had Darren and Brandi give some generous gifts to some of the townies who showed up at the housewarming party. Angela and Lil also moved out with some decent sets of living room furniture, which was less surprising, considering their family of origin.

Angela Broke and her daughter Ruby live in a duplex next-door to Nina Caliente and her twins Salsa and Samba. The neighbors get along surprisingly well. (I was hoping for drama.) Angela is actually befriending little Samba, since Salsa seems to be a bit of an attention hog with Nina. Ruby is still a toddler. She has her mother’s hair color, but, unfortunately, her father’s good looks. The computer designed her, so don’t blame me. I’m not sure what her chosen hobby is yet, but Angela’s profession will be pottery. She also has an easel so she can develop her arts and crafts enthusiasm. She may be a Pleasant in body and spirit, but she still has bills to pay.

Lillith Dreamer and her daughter Jayde live in a duplex next-door to some random townie. Lil’s landlord has an uncanny resemblance to someone from the Pleasant family past… I was starting to get exasperated about finding work-from-home jobs for my little Simmies by then. Lillith is a Sports Sim. It’s not like a Sim can make money acquiring a Gold Badge in Shooting Hoops at home. I already have two novelists, two stockbrokers, two Robotmakers, a Toymaker, a Floral Station, a hairstylist, a Caterer, a Boutique… I was starting to run out of ideas by then. Since she has that unused garage, I decided to give Lil the restoreable car. She’s not a Tinkering Sim, but it’s a fast 5200 Simoleons for the rent. (Did I mention the rent on each of those duplex units runs about 2800 Simoleons a week, even with solar panels?) So now greasemonkey Kaylynn Spitzer has some competition. (Maybe she and Lil can talk about the oilcan together.) Lil and Jayde are best friends now, but I can see the potential for a second generation of that tight-knit Pleasant love dynamic… I already see that mother and daughter share a lot of common interests. (Yes, I’m being sarcastic.) I do think I see a second Pleasantview teen leaving for college the second she blows out her birthday candles, indeed. But I digress. Jayde is still a toddler right now. Things can still change.

Coral has been tinkering away at her Robot Station. I have concerns about Coral. I honestly don’t know how long I’ll be able to keep her alive. She is not rolling fulfillable Wants and even with the Elixir, her age is trickling away. She isn’t meeting anyone close to her age, either, and I’ve been trying to get her to meet them. I’ve prided myself on not accidentally losing a Sim in a very, very long time (I’m talking years), but I think this might ruin my spotless record. I think all the little Simmies need to start praying for Coral. And she needs to meet up with one of the courtly old townies really, really soon. In the mean time, she did not appreciate that encounter with Herb’s ghost so much, so I put the real urn into her inventory, and, for now, the “Rest in Peace” urn is the one on display in her living room. No one need know the difference.

Jennifer Burb was happy to get little Lucy into private school. For some strange reason, she has developed a fixation on petting skunks. She has been doing financial consulting online, but is now making big bucks selling catered meals for Faith Goodie, as well. She has gone through three neighbors so far – first Faith Goodie, then Mary Gavigan (who sewed up a very cute outfit for Lucy so she wouldn’t have to wear that ugly yellow dress all the time) and now some weird writer chick who looks like she’s stuck in 1994.

We all know I had Daniel knock up Kaylynn before he got hit by a satellite. Oh yes, Daniel and Mary Sue are elders, too. Oh, Daniel was an elder – he’s dead now. Mary Sue is an online investment consultant; Kaylynn builds robots. As for Daniel and Kaylynn? Yes, the affair was real. I had them do it the old fashioned way. I actually tried doing it with SimBlender and it didn’t take, so I had them have an affair, and wouldn’t you know it, Mary Sue DID NOT CARE. Granted, I have the no-jealousy mod, but I’m pretty sure I uninstalled it. (Don’t you love Mary Sue’s “facts of life” talk with Kaylynn in the slideshow?) I think the old battleaxe was actually glad to have someone else act as a stand-in for the Big Nasty for a change. And, I kid you not, you know what Mary Sue was doing while Daniel and Kaylynn were going at it, don’t you? Online financial consulting on the computer. Click click click click….

Slide Show: Team Goth
http://youtu.be/TFbLmIR-4i4

Finally, there is Team Goth or, more specifically, Morty’s two kids and Don Lothario’s seven kids. For the sake of expedience, I didn’t bother creating Alexander, although I might add him in the future if I feel the need to create a headstone. Yes, Mortimer did remarry in the Pleasantview, and he did marry Dina Caliente. Surprisingly, Dina was devastated when he died, though. By the way, creating Mortimer and Dina as a family unit with a child was no easy feat in CAS – for some reason the game does not want to recognize family units in which one of the parents is an elder. As a result, you, gentle reader, get to witness Dina’s and Mortimer’s wedding picture. Beautiful, wasn’t it?

At any rate, after I sent Morgana and Sparkle off to school, Mortimer was hit by one of the aliens’ satellites and died. Once the girls returned from school and finished their homework, the combined households were able to move into the New Goth Mansion. I allowed Dina and Sparkle Goth to remain with the Lotharios briefly because Dina had rolled the Want to get Sparkle into Private SChool, and the New Goth Mansion had already proved itself very reliable for this purpose in other neighborhoods. Besides, there was a potted ficus plant in the living room by the name of SimBlender that needed to take care of some unfinished business between Don and Dina before Don met the unfortunate end of one last alien satellite.

Once the family had moved into the compound and Dina was miserably yakking away the morning in the master toilet, I had her befriend Kaylynn Langerak and invite the Headmaster over for dinner. The dinner part was easy, but then I had to take a break from the Goth household and play the Pleasant compound long enough to make sure that Kaylynn was good friends with Dina and could invite her over and give her a gift. The timing for all of these matters was critical, because the Goth compound was a household with seven family members as it stood. Now Kaylynn Langerak has been living on cheesecake for the past day at the Pleasant compound – she’s probably sick of it, but I had her bake another one just for her inventory, then bake another one to serve for any company she might be expecting. When her new friend Dina showed up, she gave the one in her inventory to her as a gift, then served more of her delicious cheesecake as a hospitality snack. The two new friends then wished each other a good afternoon and I went back to playing the Goth household again. Ah, yes, Dina had a tasty cheesecake in her inventory. Excellent. I had her make the fanciest meal she could cook without burning for the Headmaster: spaghetti. Now I know for a fact that you can get kids into private school with spaghetti. I have done this before. Grilled cheese sandwiches work, too. I haven’t tried Mac’n'cheese yet, but generally anything hot will work as long as it isn’t burnt. Besides, seriously, look at the slideshow. Look where they ate it. Look how many people ate together. Seriously. This was a shoo-in. I had to make sure the toddlers were potty-trained right before they aged up so they could Grow Up Well, and Don died. Then the kids were to get into Private School. I might as well get all four in at once.

As soon as Sparkle was safely admitted into Private School, I had Dina and Sparkle move out. Dina was getting very pregnant by then, and I didn’t want that prenancy resulting in a single baby. I had one more order of unfinished business, then I figured I’d move Dina into a house, because she had already rolled a Want for a Makeover Station, which I had bought for her with a tiny pinch of the Goth family’s motherloded fortune. (Normally I wouldn’t have done that, but since they’re rich in the original Pleasantview, I decided it made it more like I was playing the original neighborhood.) Because of the family names and the family sizes, the Caliente sisters were not actually related yet, so I had to do a little magic with SimBlender, so I moved Dina and Sparkle Goth back to the battlefield, then moved Nina, Salsa and Samba Caliente into the lot with them. Once they were related, I moved Nina and her daughters (who I had already linked to Don through SimBlender earlier) out and just waited for Sparkle to cheer up from school and finish her homework. Then I had to wait for Dina to rest up because she was pregnant and tired easily. Suddenly…. hey, wait a minute, she’s only two days pregnant!

That’s right, she gave birth on the battlefield!

Saint Dina of Caliente

And so, I decided to have Dina Goth build her house and beauty salon right there on the battlefield. Seriously, the picture right after she gave birth came out as a perfect religious icon in the making. (It’s going to be hanging in all my little Simmies’ homes in the future.) Sparkle became a teen not long afterward, and she continued her friendship with her nieces, even though she was in college and they were still kids, so her sister followed her to the dorm at Pleasantview Community College and stalked her. Dakota and Donotello are toddlers.

As for Nina, she didn’t get her job at the Slacker Center like she wanted, but she is working as a cashier. She also writes pulp crime novels, which incorporates two of her favorite subjects: ghosts and crime, so I think she’ll be good at it. I’m not a Nina-hater, although this particular Nina seems a little more slow-witted than the ones that usually come with the game. She might be needing a date with the Batbox. Salsa and Samba just aged to girls and got a visit in the middle of the night from that creepy Game Lot guy. If I were Nina, I would have called the police on that dude.

I haven’t done much with the Goth Compound itself since Dina moved out. Cassandra’s three daughters from Don (Morgana, Vesta and Persephone) are still children. Cassandra doesn’t have a profession yet. Frankly, with $400K in the bank, does she really need one? She could sit on the roof looking through the telescope and discover stars for a living. Oh yeah, I banned telescopes in Pleasantview, so maybe not. Only Darren Dreamer is allowed to have a telescope. And the students at Uni. Maybe. If I’m feeling indulgent. I thought about giving Cass a Floral Station, but Brandi already has one. I have plenty of time to think about it, though, because it’s probably going to be a while before I get to her on my rotations. I’m open to suggestions.

So that’s what’s going on in the post-apocalyptic Pleasantview. I still have to bring you up to speed on Pleasantview Classic, Gender-Bender Pleasantview, Helter-Skelter Pleasantview and of course, Ginger Newson’s Bridal Shower in my original Pleasantview. (You know she’s marrying my Simself’s adopted son in that one, just in case you forgot!)

Round one of my PV rotation almost over!

Alright! This rotation has been in order since sometime in January, and it’s now May 17th. XD

To be fair, I do play a week per family – and I have a ton of housholds. And I’m on one of my last two households. I’m close to finishing the Curiouses [I have a megahood] where Erin [Singles] Beaker and Vidcund Curious live in a house with their kids with Don – Eric & Eileen and Leo & Polaris, respectively. =]

They also have their own son together, Virgo Curious – who IS a Virgo! =O That was totally not expected! XD

I’ve also decided to move in the Newsons to my Orphanage - owned by Don’s sisters Carlotta and Maria.

But, uh, yeah. That’s not quite relevant to Pleasantview, but whatever.

I have a few name changes [again!] and some new couples for the next rotation. =]

Jared and Jenna Lothario [Dina and Ricardo's twins] are now Jordan and Jordana Lothario.

Austin Broke [Don and Angela's son] is now Angelo Broke.

I also have some new couples – including Beau Broke, who I haven’t played since last May-June! =[

Don Lothario + Cassandra Goth - I decided I like them too much together to let them stick to having lovechildren together for the rest of their life! XD

Dustin Broke + Ginger Newson - thanks to Melanie for the idea!

Angela Pleasant + Jacob Martin [from Riverblossom Hills] – thanks to Nicole for the idea!

Beau Broke + Melody Tinker

Benjamin Long + Darleen Dreamer

Gavin Newson will be with Christiana Lothario [Don's sister], and Ricky Cormier will be with Christiana’s twin sister Bianca. XD

I’ve also decided to resurrect my least favorite Sim ever – Lucy [Burb] Dreamer. She will be Buck Grunt from Strangetown – I REALLY hope they have cute kids together! XD

I will be glad to get this 5-month-long rotation over with! XD

RIP Darnell Dreamer and Skye Broke

I would just like to take the opportunity to honor two Sims who barely lived in Clone Pleasantview, before they were cruelly snatched away by their Maker and Rodney’s Death Creater (so much for their Maker’s 10 Nice points).

Darnell died in a mysterious fire that only affected him.  He left behind widow Darla Dreamer, and teen daughter Darcy.

Skye drowned, though she was nowhere near a body of water.  She leaves behind husband Brandon, and daughters teen Dusty, toddler Betsy and baby Marcy (who was born after her mother’s death, the result of an experiment on duplicating alien technology for male pregnancies).

Darnell and Skye shall be missed, though their bereaved spouses are already finding comfort in each other! 

One name you may notice is absent is Byron Goth.  Since Muriel probably will die before Dick Caliente graduates college (let alone marrying Michelle Bachelor), Byron will outlive his wife.  He may end up rivalling Don Lothario as the resident studmuffin.  Of course, since this town’s Don is a Donna, I’m sure they’ll end up hooking up, even if only casually!

Meet Clone Pleasantview’s newest family

I’m sorry, I have gotten so behind on my Clone Pleasantview updates.  This is my first attempt at rectifyint he situation.

Two days into the regular rotation, a new family moved to CPV, into an apartment right downstairs from the Broke family:  The Newsons!

The teenaged Gunther and Gretchen are just starting to get to know their peers (the Pleasant twins and their girlfriends), though they have little time, what with taking care of their younger siblings.  No romantic prospects on the horizon yet  for either of them, but there’s always college, which they will attend when the kids reach their teens.

Meet Gunther and Gretchen Newson

 

The children, Gabe and Gillian, are contemporaries of Alexandra Goth (whom neither has met) and Luke Burb (who has come home from school with Gillian, hmm, since their clones are married in my main PV, I wonder if that’s an omen!).

Meet Gabe and Gillian Newson

 

The toddlers, George and (what better name for a George’s twin sister?) Gracie, are peers of their neighbor, Betsy Broke.  They are learning their skills well, and on the brink of childhood.

Meet George and Gracie Newson

 

Also deserving acknowledgement is their adoptive father, Grover Newson (photo not available).  Grover lived long enough to babysit and begin potty training the tots on the first day, while their older siblings went school, and to teach the teens to study when they got home.  RIP, Grover.