Boreal Springs

January 14, 2010

O`Hanlon – Round 28: ‘Nightshift’

Filed under: O`Hanlon — Tags: , , , , , , , , — Mao @ 10:16 am

Julie is starting to feel her age while Timothy and Isolde are also forced to face that they’re getting older.  In fact, even Tommy and Gavin are getting older!

There’s a ghost problem in the O`Hanlon house as of late.  Julie had noticed the dogs now and again, but she never anticipated Asia would come back to haunt her from the grave.  While seeing her was somewhat heartfelt, she couldn’t deny being bothered by the fact her former love wasn’t resting peacefully.

Tommy and Gavin managed to avoid the ghost of their dead grandma long enough to become teens.  Tommy definitely resembled his father and his late grandma Asia.  He was a bit of an ‘indie’ kid, favoring eclectic music, painting, and other creative pursuits.  He had a bit of an athletic streak to him, though, and was very competitive with Gavin in this respect.  Still, Knowledge was his true calling.

Gavin, looking much like his mother, couldn’t have been more like Timothy if he’d tried.  He wasn’t into learning so much as experiencing life.  He loved sports and video games and eventually, he wouldn’t mind settling down with his own pretty lady to start a family…

Of course, with ambitions like that, Gavin might want to toss aside his childhood crush on Nadia Knight.  He’d seen her a few times, around town and in school.  She was gorgeous, but what one call a bit of a “bitch”.  They were distantly related, but that hardly mattered in Gavin’s mind.  Nadia seemed to take his crush in stride, she neither dissuaded him nor encouraged him.

They hung out sometimes, mostly when Dominic was off with Deidre O`Hanlon.  Nadia and Deidre were anything but friends.

Meanwhile, the ghost problem in the house didn’t get any better.  Isolde and Timothy were enjoying a late-night snack when Timothy glanced at the door leading out into the garage.  The ghost of Superball trotted through as if it were nothing.

“Babe,” Timothy began, his voice quiet.  “Is that a ghost?”

“Of course it’s a ghost!  How do you not already know this?  You were raised around them!”

Timothy’s face looked stricken, “t-that doesn’t mean I ever actually saw one for myself.  Babe, c’mon, can’t you like use your witchy stuff to get rid of it?”

“No, but I need to figure out something… it’s gotten bad as of late.  Maybe it’s Asia?”

“Not cool, mom.  Seriously.”

While Isolde dug through her magical supplies for something to help her investigate this ‘ghost’ issue, the boys were improving their friend base at school.  Tommy had an art class with Charity Saunders and every boy that saw Charity Saunders wanted to know if she was the ‘charitable’ type.  Of course, no boy ever got Charity alone long enough to find out…

Her brother, Alexander, was everywhere that she was and if she managed to escape, he found her.  Call it twin tracking, if you will.  Charity rarely left his sight.  He came calling at the door not long after they had arrived home from school.  Gavin tried to distract him, but it was no use.

“Look, I get it, okay?  My sister is hot.  That doesn’t mean I’m going to let her run around being the town bike before she’s sixteen, got it?  Now move, I know she’s in there.”

Gavin was athletic, but he wasn’t stupid.  If Alexander was anything like his grandfather, Gavin sure as hell didn’t want to find out.  He let Alexander in and Charity was gone.  It was for the best, Tommy and Charity were a really bad match.

Between working late nights and trying to figure out the ghost problem, Isolde was exhausted.  Timothy usually took care of the majority of the household tasks, but he’d taken on even more as of late in an effort to give her a bit of a break.  He wasn’t sure what she did that had her out late at night, but there had never been an issue of trust in their relationship.  He was mostly concerned for her health and sanity.

Besides, he kind of wished she spend more time on the ghosts.  Timothy really hated ghosts.

When the boys weren’t trying to get in with the ladies, they spent most of their time together.  Despite being so different, they enjoyed playing games and messing around like teenage boys have the tendancy to do.  Gavin was a bit upset that Tommy could hit harder than he could, though.

Of course, this hit to his guy ego was quickly rectified when he found his twin making a snowman.  Talk about losing serious guy points!

“You are such a girl right now,” Gavin teased.

Tommy, without looking up, replied, “chicks dig artists, dude.  You’ll see that soon enough..”

—————————–

Note from Mao: Sorry this update is so late and disjointed!  I’m still not feeling up to task with these entries.  I got my Angel of Lies update out, though, so I wanted to get this one out, too!  Expect things to be a little sporadic, though.  Everyone knows BS comes in bursts nowadays… plus Mass Effect 2 comes out at the end of the month and you bet your butt I’ll be playing the hell out of that.  I still have my save file from the first one, LOL!

As far as actual gameplay notes go, Gavin has been infatuated with Nadia since he met her as a child, wanting to talk to her, etc.  They are second cousins with Marla and Julia tying them together.  That’s just a little too close for my liking.  We’ll see what happens…

Tommy actually did bring Charity home from school and Alexander did walk by.  Seriously, he watches her like a hawk and for good reason!

Also, the ghosts in this house are INSANE.  They are driving me bonkers…

December 30, 2009

Anderson 5 – Round 27: ‘Hysteria’

Filed under: Anderson,O`Hanlon — Tags: , , , , , , — Mao @ 9:23 pm

James Anderson and Maggie O`Hanlon have an easy relationship, it’s just a shame that it’s sort of put a bit of a clamp on James’ friendship with Maggie’s older brother, Timothy; especially now that she’s pregnant.  Katarina Anderson is still alive and kicking, but for how much longer?

“So,” Katarina began, looking Maggie dead in the eye.  “This is actually my son’s, right?  I mean, I’m not sure if we can do the baby switcheroo again.”

Maggie blinked, unsure of what to say, “I… what… what kind of question is that?  Of course it is!”

“Just checking.  You think it’s abnormal until it actually happens, then it’s an everyday concern.”

“…that’s just insane.  What’s wrong with you?”

Katarina smiled, all teeth, “too much to name.  When you’ve lived as long as I have, you’ve seen it all!”

Maggie had been concerned about telling James, but she shouldn’t have been.  They may not have been married,  but he couldn’t have been happier.  Not only could he be completely certain the baby was actually his this time, but he couldn’t think of a better person to have a family with.  Given that his parents had never married, James and Maggie were in no rush.  They didn’t want to run off and get married just because of the baby.

Things around the apartment mostly revolved around Maggie’s pregnancy.  She was off work on maternity leave and so far along she was waddling around more than actually walking.  Katarina had no desire to pander to a pregnant woman.  She’d done it and she’d been pregnant with a married guy’s baby!

“Hey, you know what pregnant women don’t make?  Good windows.  You’re blocking the TV!”

James sighed, “mom, seriously, be nice.”

“This is nice.  Refuse to move and you’ll see mean!  When you’re old like me, your shows are everything!”

Timothy finally made his way over after promising Isolde, on his dead mother’s grave, that he wouldn’t pulverize the father of his sister’s baby.  Maggie was happy to see her brother after so long, but a little anxious about his reunion with James.  James seemed to share her feelings.

“Before you start throwing punches–”

Timothy interrupted him, “I’m not going to hit you, I promised Isolde I wouldn’t.  It’s the only way she’d let me leave!  That witchy stuff is serious business.”

Maggie took a deep breath, “then does that mean you’re not mad?”

“Oh, I’m still plenty mad, Mags.  Mostly because you didn’t tell me and I had to find out by accident!”

Maggie, unable to come up with a response and feeling a little guilty, made her exit, “um, I’ll be over here…”

“And you, dude, not cool.  You knocked up my baby sister.  Do you remember when we were teens?  Yeah, she was a kid.  Gross, huh?”  Timothy said, shaking his head.  “But what’s done is done, I guess.  Just know, you hurt my sister?  I’ll turn you into whale bait.  They’ll need your dental records to identify the mangled corpse.”

James cringed, “pleasant, Timothy.  I’m so glad you’re willing to let bygones be bygones.”

“Yeah, I’m real generous like that,” he said, making a motion with his two fingers, pointing to his own eyes and then at James.  “She’s my baby sister, dude.  Remember that.”

Of course, no sooner had the threat of Timothy’s fist left their minds, Katarina had to add extra weight.  While she’d never done the whole marriage thing herself, she was curious about their dedication to doing this ‘cohabitation thing’, especially since neither of them planned on keeping things open.

“I just don’t see the point.  Why not just run off and get hitched like all the other normal people?”

Maggie shrugged, “it’ll happen when it feels right.  There’s no standardization, no law that says people with kids have to get married.”

“Psh, should be.  Separate the weak from the strong.  You don’t know strength ’til you walk in on your boyfriend with three chicks, all covered in Jell-O.”

Maggie, rendered speechless, just gaped at her.

“I mean, of course I got in on that, I love a good Jell-O romp, but still…”

Baby Katherine O`Hanlon entered the world with little trouble.  Maggie’s due date came and they went to the hospital as they’d worked out.  When they returned, Maggie tried working from home, making sure to keep Katherine close by at all times.  Katarina, surprisingly, was a big help with the newborn.

Of course, no one spent more time with Baby Katherine than James.  He couldn’t have been happier.  In fact, all his thoughts revolved around her and other baby things.  Maggie just shook her head anytime he gave her ‘that look’.  One little accident was enough for her.  She loved Katherine, but the whole baby thing had really thrown her for a loop.

Of course, with birth often comes death.  Katarina was sitting in the living area with baby Katherine, watching her shows, when she dozed off.  She never woke up.  Maggie came downstairs after her shower to find Katarina stone cold on the couch, baby Katherine slumbering quietly in her chair.  She took the baby upstairs, called 911, and then James.  It was not a pretty situation, he came home immediately from work, completely torn up.  He’d always been insanely close with his mother.

Time went on and James channeled his sadness into playing with Katherine.  Maggie busied herself redoing the apartment, tired of the old, drab furnishings and wallpaper.  They’d gotten the apartment from one of Katarina’s rich flings and his stuff had been there.  Now it was in a moving truck, replaced with items more fitting of the family that now resided there.

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Notes from Mao: Awww, poor Katarina!  You will be missed, you lived a long, crazy life.  I’m sure Shang is waiting in the afterlife hottub for you.

James was really torn up by Katarina’s passing, constantly stopping what he was doing and crying.  I haven’t had a sim grieve this bad in awhile!  Even poor Katherine was sad about her grandma’s passing.

The picture below is hilarious because both James and Katherine are crying over Katarina’s demise while Maggie looks frustrated that their cries are disrupting her game, LOL!

I’m waiting for Maggie or James to spin up a want to get married before I do anything.  I like having some non-married couples.  My parents never got married, LOL!  James immediately rolled a want for a baby when Katherine aged, but uh, yeah.  Population control!

How awesome is it that Katherine got Jun Yu’s eyes AND skintone, though??  Woo!

Normally this is where we’d move on to Uni, but we have a new lotsto play!  Emma and Jennifer’s before Uni!

October 28, 2009

O`Hanlon – Round 27: ‘Time After Time’

Filed under: O`Hanlon — Tags: , , , , , , — Mao @ 12:18 pm

Julie O`Hanlon still mourns the loss of her love, Asia.  Timothy and Isolde do their best to raise their rapidly growing twin sons, Gavin and Tommy.

Tommy and Gavin made the most of the last days of fall.  Julie was always happy to walk with them down to the playground, which was always full of activity.  Boreal Springs was definitely home to a lot of children, all within the same age range.

Spending time with her young grandchildren helped her forget the untimely loss of Asia.  Being in the military and a qualified space technician, Julie still wasn’t sure where the satellite had come from.

The boys seemed to move on for the loss, they were young when they lost their other grandmother and a child’s mind isn’t one for grief.  Gavin wasn’t as outgoing as his brother, but he was definitely more of the athlete.  He spent most of his time on the monkey bars.  They were his domain… until Catelyn Anderson stepped into the picture.  She was snappy for a little girl.

“Hey, this isn’t a girl’s toy,” Gavin warned, watch the young girl hop onto a bar, somehow able to maintain her flip flops as she swung.

“I don’t see any signs,” she shot back, eyes narrowed.

“Fine,” Gavin said, moving out to the middle, staring her down.  “But you can’t hang as long as I can.”

“Yeah, I can,” Catelyn replied, determination in her eyes.  “Watch me.”

It ended in a tie, because Catelyn’s dad came calling–the girls had run off to the playground by themselves…again–and Julie was collecting her grandsons.  A rematch was promised and the two parted ways.

Isolde came home from a trip downtown to her husband digging up the backyard.  She wasn’t exactly pleased about it.  It was bad enough they had a big obstacle coarse taking up the side yard, now this eyesore in the back.

“Timothy, what are you doing?“

“Gardening, babe.  It’s relaxing.”

“You don’t know the first thing about gardening.”

He laughed, “that’s why I’m learning!  It’s fun.  See?  Stuff grows and then you pick it.”

Isolde sighed, trying to remember that Timothy had a very simple nature about most things, “try not to dig up the whole backyard.  The boys need somewhere to play.”

One evening, while Julie, Isolde, and Timothy were a the table discussing the very burnt porkchops Isolde had made, the phone rang.  Julie quickly rose to answer it, wanting to avoid the charred texture of overdone pork.  She was surprised to hear Maggie on the other line.  It’d been so long since she’d called!

“Maggie!  How are you doing?”

‘I’m fine, how is everyone there?’

“We’re all great, but we’d be better if you’d visit.”

‘Um, that’s kind of what I called about… there’s something I need to tell you, mom.’

“Is everything all right?  Are you hurt?”

‘No, no, I’m okay, it’s just… um… I’m,’ Maggie hesitated, taking a deep breath. ‘I’m pregnant.’

“What??  How is that possible?  Wait, James?  Oh, Maggie!”

‘I need to go.  I’ll… call you later.’

Before Julie could say anything, Maggie hung up.  She sighed.

Julie waited until she thought Timothy was preoccupied to visit Isolde out in her witchery hut.  She had to tell someone about Maggie and she knew Isolde would keep quiet.

“Did you know, have any indication?  You saw her last month!”

“I had suspicions, but I wasn’t sure,” Isolde replied sadly.  “This isn’t going to be good.  Timothy is going to go nuts.”

Julie shook her head, “I’m trying not to go nuts!  My poor baby is pregnant… and not in the ‘oh yay, marriage and everything and now there’s babies’… no in the Scarlet Letter variety of pregnant!  And to Timothy’s best friend, no less.”

Timothy had been coming to see Isolde, but he had heard it all.  He stormed through the door, shocking them both.

“Maggie is what?!“

“Timothy, calm down, please,” Julie said, trying to placate her son.  “There’s nothing we can do about it now.  We have to be calm–”

Timothy balled his fists at his sides, “I am going to KILL him!”

“Stop!  You’re not going to do anything,” Isolde snapped, pulling out her wand.  “Don’t make me use this on you, Timothy.  You can’t let Maggie know that you know and you most certainly cannot kill the baby’s father.  She will come to us and to you, when she feels comfortable.  She’s scared.  We don’t need to scare her further.”

Timothy grumbled unintelligbly, but did nothing else.  He turned and left, followed by Julie.  Isolde took a deep breath.  What next?

Almost immediately, as if on cue, Gordon appeared at her door.  Where had he come from?  This was not the time.

“That sounded fun,” he said by way of greeting, stepping inside and closing the door.

“This is a really bad time.”

“So I heard.  Unfortunately, our problems have a similar vibe to them–unwanted attention.  It’s just a quick fix, something you can easily brew up in minutes.  So, let’s get started, shall we?  Once I’m gone, you can go play mediator once more.”

Isolde nodded, knowing that there was no way to say “no” to Gordon Saunders.  She’d agreed to the work and it didn’t matter what time it was, she had to do it.

Timothy, meanwhile, had a hard time adjusting to the news.  He tried to take his mind off of it, but it was impossible.  His little sister was knocked up by his best friend, who was still reeling from his bad relationship with Kit.  Poor Maggie.  He wasn’t mad at her, but he did want to lay James out in the ER, for sure.  He had trusted him!

If the boys noticed anything was up, they didn’t say a word.

——————-

Note from Mao: Timothy walking in on Julie and Isolde talking was the game.  I had Julie go back and talk to Isolde and Timothy came in not long after, an action queued up with Isolde.  So, it just seemed to fit that it’d be how he found out.  Maggie also called Julie earlier in the day, which I thought was a hint as to her fessing up.

Timothy needs something to do while the boys are at school, so he gardens.  The playground is a pretty active place, too.  The thing with Catelyn and Gavin happened autonomously.  They both got on the monkeybars and stared one another down, LOL!

July 15, 2009

O`Hanlon: Round 26 – ‘Satellites’

Filed under: O`Hanlon — Tags: , , , , , , , — Mao @ 10:26 pm

Julie and Asia are getting up there in years and are enjoying watching their children grow up and have families of their own.  Timothy and Isolde are perhaps one of the oddest pairings you’ll find, but you’d be hard-pressed to find two people more devoted to one another.  Their twin sons, Gavin and Tommy, enjoy keeping the family on its toes.

Things were pretty quiet for the O`Hanlons, if you didn’t count the chatter and noise that results from having two very active toddlers scrambling around the house.  For the most part, though, everything was going well.  Asia and Julie were huge helps when it came to the boys’ care and Timothy being unemployed certainly made sure the twins always had someone with them.  Isolde still worked odd hours, but no one questioned it.

She was very secretive about her work.  Keeping secrets wasn’t something Isolde enjoyed, but it was necessary.  She couldn’t let it get out that she was working for Gordon Saunders, infamous criminal mastermind and vampire.  She had inherited the job from her mentor, Lilith Yu.

Unfortunately, the worst of tragedies always seem to come when you think everything is going perfectly.  Asia had always had a fondness for the night sky.  She’d often lie out on the yard and peer up at the endless expanse of blue, at the tiny, winking stars.  No one had anticipated that it would be the very thing that killed her.  A rogue satellite crashed from the sky and directly onto her, vaporizing her on impact, leaving only her scorched wedding band several feet away.

There was nothing anyone could do but stand in shock and horror.  Asia O`Hanlon was gone.

Julie was beside herself with grief.  They had been together since they were teens.  Even with their advancing age, neither had given a thought as to who would die first.  They had always just assumed it would be together.  Now Julie was alone, for the first time in decades, without Asia by her side.

It was an empty feeling.

There was little time for the household to mourn, what with two very rambunctious toddlers running about and causing trouble.  Tommy’s favorite trick was to hide from everyone.  He would steal away to the dog house and take a nap, leaving his family to run around in a crazed frenzy, trying to find the missing toddler.  When at last he was located, everyone heaved a sigh of relief and tried to regather their frayed composure.

The toddlers definitely took the edge off of Asia’s untimely death.

Despite her necessary secrecy, Isolde and Timothy were as close as ever.  They were sure to enjoy the spare few moments they had when both the twins managed to be napping at the same time and Julie was at work.  Timothy had visions of another child, but Isolde wasn’t quite sure if that was a possibility.  Julie was talking about retirement and she hated to burden her aging mother-in-law with another child to help care for, especially after the loss she had suffered.

Maggie dropped by for a visit, Asia’s death and funeral prompting her to realize how little she had seen of her family recently.  Apeture was some distance away and it wasn’t always easy to find time to visit, especially with her work load and all the papers she seemed to be endlessly grading lately.

She was instantly greeted by the chaos of the full house, the twin boys both making their own kinds of noise, the two dogs running rampant throughout the living room.  Julie stepped over the rabbit head and gave her daughter a big squeeze.

“You look so good, Maggie,” Julie said, breaking the hug and giving her daughter a full once over.  “There’s a hitch in your step.  Something you need to tell us?”

Timothy came out not long after, still dressed in his pajamas.  The leisurely life of a stay-at-home dad gave him many benefits, once of which allowed him to traipse around all day in his sleepwear if he so desired.  He gave his little sis a quick hug before getting down to business.

“What’s this I hear about you going out with James?” His voice was firm, not matching his casual stance at all.  “Don’t think you’re being sneaky, Mags!  I know people.”

She rolled her eyes, “we’re seeing how it goes.  That’s all.”

“Uh huh, sure.  I know guys, Mags, I am one.  I should’ve known his little offer wasn’t platonic–”

“Timothy,” Maggie cut him off, exasperated.  “Let it go, okay?  I’m a big girl, I can take care of myself.”

“Sure, sure, whatever you say, Mags… but if he pulls any crap, best friend or not, I’ll break him.”

This caused her to laugh, “you mean you’ll have Isolde break him, right?”

“Don’t let the flannel fool you, little sis, there’s nothing grandpa-like about my moves.”

Thanks to the watchful eyes of their parents and grandma, Tommy and Gavin made it to childhood.  Their energy levels sure didn’t deplete any, in fact, they seemed to increase.  Gavin loved school and enjoyed making friends.  He brought Dominic Knight home from school one day, just on a whim.  He was a real people person.

Isolde had insisted on giving him a haircut, despite his cries against it.  His hair was still shaggy, but not nearly as long.

Tommy was a bit more reserved than his brother, but still enjoyed Dominic’s company.  He seriously enjoyed the competition he offered, too, when it came to video games!  Gavin wasn’t nearly as good as Tommy and so Tommy was hard-pressed to find ‘fresh meat’ to beat the snot out of when it came to video games.

While everything seemed normal on the surface, Tommy knew that was far from the truth.  He was a little scared to tell his parents that maybe grandma Asia wasn’t completely gone after all.  She had died when he was still really young, so he didn’t remember her all that well, but she sure seemed keen on making an impression on him now.

Tommy wondered if she visited Gavin, too, but so far his twin said nothing of ghostly visitors.

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Note from Mao: And I’m back!  Still trying to get caught up on the loads of blog updates that happened while I was away.  It’ll probably take me some time.  I’m trying to get some playtime in, it’s a little odd getting back into the groove.  Hope everyone had a safe and wonderful fourth of July!  The whole ‘married woman’ thing is still sinking into my head.  Whew.

Asia’s death was NOT intentional.  She had a want to see a shooting star and so, I sent her out to see a shooting star.  I should have known better.  Those who have followed my many, many blogs know that I am no stranger to satellite deaths!  I don’t care how rare you say it is, I will scoff and say, “yeah, like twins, right?” because it never seems to fail, when a sim watches the stars, they meet an untimely fate!  Poor Asia.

Timothy really wants another kid, but so far, it isn’t happening.  I’ve downloaded the latest ACR and tweaked the values again using Laura’s nifty tutorial over at Lakeside Heights.  I’ve also finally added the inteenimator.  So yeah, big changes here!

June 15, 2009

Anderson 5 – Round 25: ‘Only Slightly Awkward’

Filed under: Anderson,O`Hanlon — Tags: , , , , , , — Mao @ 2:32 pm

James Anderson invited Maggie O`Hanlon, his friend and his best friend’s little sister, to stay with him as opposed to moving into the already cramped O`Hanlon house.  Katarina remains with her son through his trying time of dealing with the whole ‘Kit disaster’.

James loves his mother, he does, but he seriously wishes she’d put a tie on the door or perhaps conduct her amorous activities before he was due home from work.  He was used to this, unfortunately, but he feared what would happen if Maggie happened to walk in on such a scene.  Surely they weren’t as ‘open’ in the O`Hanlon household.  All he needed to do was scar her for life.

Despite Katarina’s little escapades, everything seems to be going smoothly… though there is some obvious tension.  Maggie has had a crush on James since she was young.  He had always been under Kit’s little spell, though, and completely oblivious to her puppy love.  Of course, there was also the dangerous thing of he being Timothy’s little sister.

Still, she was an adult now and no one’s little sister.  Kit was gone and as far as James was concerned, completely nonexistant.  Maggie found it hard to be completely platonic, despite her wish not to complicate things.

Unfortunately, the apartment they had been staying in had been overrun by termites and they were forced to relocate immediately.  Luckily, one of Katarina’s lovers had a spare apartment that was fully furnished and uninhabited for them to take over.  Sometimes it was good to have a mother with connections… unfortunately, the decor in the place could definitely use some work.

“It’s a bit stuffy, but better than living in a box, right?” Katarina told her son, glancing around the room.  Maggie was at work, she was a Science teacher at the Boreal Springs high school.  “Now, this girl you have living with us… Maggie?  She likes you, James.  A lot.”

“She’s Timothy’s little sister.”

Katarina rolled her eyes, “everyone is someone’s sister, brother, daughter, uncle, aunt… doesn’t seem to stop the way the world works, now does it?  Stop making excuses to sit and mourn something that never had a chance anyway.”

James was loathe to admit his mother’s logic made sense, but it did.  Still, he couldn’t hurt his friend or possibly Maggie if his head wasn’t completely in the right place.

To take their minds off of all the drama, Maggie and James met up with Timothy and Isolde downtown on a Friday night.  Isolde and Timothy hadn’t really had a chance to go out since the twins were born.  Of course, upon meeting up, James just had to make a joke about Isolde’s ‘sparkly’ countenance.

“You look radioactive!”

Isolde made a face, “I have a broom, James, and I won’t hesitate to use it.”

Timothy and Maggie watched in amusement.  Finally, Timothy spoke up, “you’d better listen to her, dude.  She’s brutal with that thing.”

Once they got inside, they had a couple of drinks at the bar… and of course, what’s drinks without some drunken karoake?  Isolde and Maggie were the first to go, the ‘lightweights’ when it came to drinking, they were already laughing obnoxiously.  Maggie swayed and sang questionably while Isolde belted out the lyrics like a would-be Diva.  The mixture of the two created a very… interesting sound.

James, thankfully, had inherited the patented Yu talent for all things musical and lyrical, and was quite a capable singer.  Isolde and Timothy somehow managed to make dancing into making out and Maggie was having a hard time keeping upright in her heels.  It felt nice to cut loose and have a little fun.

May 15, 2009

O`Hanlon – Round 25: ‘It Takes Two’

Filed under: O`Hanlon — Tags: , , , , , , — Mao @ 11:31 am

Julie and Asia are happy and eager to welcome their future grandchildren.  Are Timothy and Isolde really prepared to be parents?

Isolde loved working in paranormal and she really did enjoy dealing with all things ‘abnormal’, but there was just something very wrong about it coming home with her.  Or, perhaps, being at her home.  The ghost of Agent Superball enjoyed giving her a scare everytime she went to take a bath.  Perhaps it was the memories of all the times Mary had bathed the dog that caused this.  Regardless, Isolde didn’t think it was funny.

Isolde wasn’t surprised when she gave birth to twins.  They seemed to run in the O`Hanlon blood.  They were both boys, dubbed Tommy and Gavin.  Timothy was quite pleased to have two strapping young examples of masculinity in a house primarily dominated by females.  Isolde was just happy to finally be able to hold her babies.  Of course, twins were a bit more than the new parents bargained for.

Julie was happy to help and Asia, too.  Without them, Timothy and Isolde would have probably gone crazy.  It wasn’t that they weren’t good parents, they were, but neither had really prepared enough for twins.  Isolde just thought it would come naturally and Timothy, well, he wasn’t known for thinking about things for long periods of time.  But with Julie and Asia’s support, they made it through and even began to enjoy their little bundles of joy.

Timothy was still job hunting, but in the meantime, was quite happy to spend time with the boys.  He was the only one who was home all day.  It was a strange role reversal, all the women at work and him at home.  He didn’t mind.  It meant he could spend more time trying to imbue some manliness into his little men.  He was just thankful they’d been able to remodel all the pink stuff before the boys joined them.

Babies tend to grow like weeds and before they knew it, Tommy and Gavin were both toddlers, running around and causing all sorts of trouble.

Gavin tried to play it innocent, but Isolde wasn’t fooled, neither were the others.  These two were going to be a handful, indeed…

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Note from Mao: So, two months later, and I’m back to playing.  It’s slow going, so I’m not sure how frequently I’ll update.  I’ve also still got a lot of wedding stuff to do.  And I’m writing this after a blissful night of NyQuil (yay spring flu!), so yeah.  Apologies if it sounds kooky! The twin’s names should make it obvious what my fiance keeps naming the O`Hanlons after, lol.

February 12, 2009

O`Hanlon – Round 24: ‘A Good Life’

Filed under: O`Hanlon — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , — Mao @ 10:01 am

Julie and Asia O`Hanlon have been married a long while and are quite pleased their son has returned to take the family reins.  Timothy O`Hanlon arrives home from University with his fiancee, Isolde Anderson.

Timothy and Isolde had been dating since teenagers.  Unlike most relationships, theirs really had no ups or downs.  To most, it would seem boringly perfect, but to them, it was bliss.  They had very little drama that seemed to consume most couples.  It was made even more hilarious because they were just so different, you almost expected them to be constantly battling.  Instead, they were quite happy and seemed to fit together like two perfectly matched puzzle pieces.

They wasted no time getting married.  Isolde did not mourn the loss of her family name, in fact, she was eager to escape it.  Her life had been riddled with conflict and death, it seemed, and taking this new name and starting this new life with Timothy promised happiness.  She didn’t have to worry about her philandering father or the mother that had abandoned her, nor did she constantly think about the grandmother she had lost.  No, she had a new life and new concerns, happier concerns.  Timothy was just thrilled to finally be married.  It was something he had pictured–with Isolde–since they had begun dating all those years ago.

Yes, a new start with family and friends all in attendance.  It was a glorious day.  They had planned on a honeymoon, but opted out due to bad weather.  They’d go another time, there was no rush.  They were happy with the way things were now.

If it was weird to be taking over his grandparents’ old bedroom, Timothy said nothing.  It was the biggest bedroom in the house, after all, and neither of them were going to complain about having a bed.  Asia and Julie had both hinted that grandchildren would be more than welcome, but Timothy and Isolde were happy to take their time and simply enjoy being together.  They had plenty of time to have kids.

A small shack was built to house Isolde’s magical oddities and to give her a place to practice her magic undisturbed.  It was directly behind the house and so Timothy could come out and see her anytime.  He tried his best to stay away, though, respecting her need for space and privacy.  For this, Isolde was thankful.  She didn’t want her husband finding out that she was aiding Gordon Saunders.  Isolde was a good girl, but something inside her stirred and demanded she follow in her mentor Lilith Yu’s footsteps.  That meant helping Gordon.

Not that she found Gordon disagreeable.  It was difficult to realize he was ‘the bad guy’… he was much nicer to her than most ‘good guys’.

Of course, dealing with a vampire crime boss and being a witch weren’t Isolde’s only steps into the realm of the paranormal.  She also had experiences with ghosts.  It would seem her new home was just as haunted as her last.  She knew the ghost of Patricia haunted her former home and now it seemed the ghosts of pets haunted this place.  It was harmless, but it still startled her quite a bit.  She explained to Timothy she simply wasn’t feeling well–she didn’t want to worry him, especially if he was clueless.  Timothy had a way of being completely oblivious to the obvious.

While Isolde was working on her witchery, Timothy took time to catch up with his old friend, James Anderson.  He was happy to hear that James had finally cornered Kit Knight into an engagement.  He kept his judgements to himself.  James was a good guy, he deserved better than Kit, especially with how she treated him.  Perhaps Timothy was biased, though.  They were friends and he barely knew Kit.

At least James wasn’t dating Maggie, that’d just be weird.  It had been hard enough dealing with her crush on him.  Creepy.

Everyone in the house was pleased when Isolde announced she was pregnant.  It wasn’t exactly planned, but not unwelcome, either.  They were pretty secure in their schedules and relationship and now it was time for things to get shook up a bit.

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Note from Mao: I had no idea Isolde was even pregnant until her belly popped after she got home from work!  Stealth pregnancy!  No surprise, though, both of them have a 60%+ chance of trying.

Also, I actually did an elaborate wedding this time, but didn’t want to bog down the update.  For those of you who enjoy this sort of thing, more wedding pictures:

I love making my sims dance!  And you can see Michael showing off back there.  He’s not always quiet and subdued…

Sibling dancing!  This was autonomous and therefore hilarious.  Isolde is dancing with her younger sister, Adora Anderson.  Timothy is dancing with his younger sister Maggie.

Do you smell trouble, ’cause I sure as heck do!  Three bolts, THREE BOLTS!  Yeah, don’t worry, Kit will pop up in the Anderson update.  Sigh.  James is RIGHT beside her, too.

February 10, 2009

B.S.U. Campus – Round 23: ‘Love Hurts’

Filed under: B.S.U. Campus — Tags: , , , , , , — Mao @ 11:15 pm

Timothy O`Hanlon, Isolde Anderson, and Cole Anderson are all on their final years of University and eager to begin their adult lives.  Maggie O`Hanlon has just joined her older brother, Timothy, at University.

Timothy wasn’t quite sure how he felt about his little sister joining him at University.  On one hand, he had missed her, they had always been close… but on the other hand, he wasn’t really ready for her to show an interest in boys yet.  When Maggie arrived, that’s all she seemed to talk about.  Who could blame her?  It was no secret that poor Maggie, despite her looks, had been terribly unlucky in love and romance during her teen years.  Would being a young adult change her luck any?

Having family join him at University gave Timothy the push he needed.  He had always known that Isolde was a one-of-a-kind type of girl and while most people thought she was odd, he thought she was amazing.  He had wanted to propose immediately, as soon as they had gotten out of the cab and before they laid eyes on the house, but thought better of it.  He was glad he had waited.  There was no apprehension and he wasn’t scared–he knew what she’d say.

Maggie, meanwhile, was stuck fixing things.  She wondered if Timothy had heard about the whole ‘shocking’ incident involving the trash compactor at home.  Obviously not, or he wouldn’t have her fixing things!  She sighed.  It wasn’t fair.  Timothy had Isolde, Cole had Shelly, what did Maggie have?  A soaked shirt, because the stupid shower sprayed water all over her when she turned it wrong!

Cole was rarely seen by the others.  When he wasn’t at class or working on a term paper, he was with Shelly.  She would come to campus now and again, but with her new job, it was becoming impossible to travel.  More often than not, Cole ended up driving back to Boreal Springs to visit her on weekends.

Maggie tried her luck with a fireman that came to put out a fire she had caused while trying to cook.  It was moot.  He responded, at first, and then realized he wasn’t into attractive brunettes.  Maggie grumbled and wallowed in her defeat.  Was there no one out there for Maggie?

Before Isolde, Timothy, and Cole all left for graduation, Maggie tried to get Isolde to help her with her love woes.

“Can’t you just wiggle your fingers or something?  What about a love potion?”

Isolde tried to hide her amusement, “that’s not how it works, Maggie!  Besides, haven’t you heard of Kate Anderson?  She tried that stuff on Shang Yu and well, I think we can all see how that worked.  I don’t see what the rush is.  You’re acting like you’re forty and single!”

“What’s the rush?  You and Timothy have been together since puberty.  I haven’t even dated.  I just want to see what it’s like.”

“All right, but I can’t help you.  Why not try a matchmaking service?”

Maggie sighed, “because that’s for forty-year-olds who are still single!”

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Note from Mao: Poor Maggie!  She has negative chemistry with that fireman from her many, many fires as a teen.  What a bummer.  She’s all alone at Uni now, too.

January 20, 2009

B.S.U. Campus – Round 22: ‘Turn Me Loose, End’

Filed under: B.S.U. Campus — Tags: , , , , , , , , — Mao @ 11:11 am

There’s plenty of people and drama to go around at Boreal Summit University the next two years…

The next two years at Boreal Summit University proved to be… awkward ones.  James, Marcus, and Shelly were all finishing their final years.  That was well and good, aside from the fact Marcus was sleeping with James’ girlfriend.  Of course, Marcus felt awful about it, especially because he was really interested in starting up a relationship with his former high school flame.  It was kind of hard when he kept randomly running into Kit and sleeping with her, though.

“Don’t even talk to her, don’t kiss her, just avoid her,” James suggested, surprisingly calm.

“You are handling this way too well, dude,” Marcus replied, stunned.

“You’re not the problem, Marcus, you’re a distraction.  Claude freakin’ Saunders is the problem.  Damn vampire.”

Cole wasted no time approaching Shelly.  She hadn’t really spent time trying to find romance in college.  Instead, she found herself kind of missing Cole.  She had always wanted Timothy O`Hanlon, but she was beginning to realize that may have been a shallow, teenaged girl fantasy.  She and Cole had a lot more in common and he would also cow-down and do whatever she said.  He was a bit of a pushover, the kind of person Shelly needed if she was going to make her dreams come true and become the next mayor of Boreal Springs.

So she accepted his advances and they started a true, non-fake relationship.  If anything, the Anderson name would certainly give her a leg-up in the political world.

Isolde, meanwhile, was still studying her ‘art’.  She’d had many talks with Lilith Yu and when she finally arrived at University, she couldn’t keep herself away from Timothy.  Together, they both brought her out of her negative spiral.  She stopped sulking and brooding and went back to what she loved.

“What are you doing?” Timothy asked one evening as Isolde tested her cauldron for the first time.

“Trying to make something for Lilith,” Isolde said, trying to concentrate.

“Screw potions,” Timothy replied, giving the globe in his hand a pained look, “use magic on this damn thing.  How did anyone ever manage to figure this thing out?”

Isolde sighed, “I don’t think it works like that.”

There were some definite perks to being a witch.  Isolde had the best transportation to class and anywhere else–a broom!  A real, flying broom.  Sure it was a gaudy blue, complete with a weird crystal at the end of it’s stick, but what could beat a flying broom?  Absolutely nothing.  She couldn’t wait until she’d studied enough to have a spectral assistant.  Timothy tried, but he really wasn’t very good at handling the reagents.

Poor Cole, meanwhile, was finding that tinkering was not exactly his thing.  The computer broke in the midst of him working hard on his term paper.  He tried to fix it only to get quite a jolt.  Thankfully, Isolde was around and she quickly hit him with a rejuvination spell.  He wasn’t enamored with her anymore, but he was certainly thankful for her helpful, witchy ways.

Shelly had different ideas of ‘healing wounds’.  Not that Cole particularly disagreed with her methods.  Perhaps it wasn’t smart to leave a bunch of unattended, young adults in a house all by themselves.  It would seem that none of their parents even considered they would do anything questionable.  Well, okay, Cole’s had.  Sara called constantly, reminding him that he was their last hope.  No pressure or anything.

Of course, you can’t have two family sims without a little trouble, either.  Sure, Isolde was knowledge-minded first and foremost, but her second inclination was family.  Perhaps that’s why she and Timothy got along so well.  They had plenty of chemistry, though it probably wasn’t wise to explore the chemistry right before an important final exam.

But then again, most guys don’t have girlfriends with witchy ways.  Timothy heads off to his final exam feeling completely rejuvenated and safe in the knowledge that he’s totally got college in the bag.

James, Marcus, and Shelly all graduated with honors, much to the delight of their parents.  Cole wasn’t about to let Shelly run off into the sunset.  He proposed to her rather spontaneously, right before she was preparing to leave with Marcus.  Of course, she accepted.  Instead of staying in a cramped little apartment, she’d go make nice with her future in-laws.  It would be awkward, but they had a nice house.  James seemed shocked by the display, wondering if Cole knew exactly what he was getting into.  Not that he was one to talk, really.

Meanwhile, outside, Marcus was chatting up his old flame, Valerie.  She was surprisingly also on campus and they had met a few times through classes and just random campus things.  She’d grown up quite well, he couldn’t deny it.  There was still an attraction there and maybe, since they were both adults now, a chance at something more.  They passed numbers and Marcus moved to leave with Shelly.  James would leave in the morning.

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Note from Mao: Isolde really wants Timothy to be a warlock, LOL.  Poor Timothy, I don’t think he has it in him to do witchy things.  He’s too confused by that silly game ball, he brings it out constantly and makes pained faces.  Cole immediately walked up to Shelly and planted one on her.  I was too shocked for a picture.  Seems he took the Tsung way of confrontation!  Either way, he wanted to get engaged and so they did.  Marcus kept having wants to talk to Valerie, so there she is.  She’s a pretty sim, despite her over-painted, pudgy-faced teen years.

December 30, 2008

O`Hanlon – Round 22: ‘Getting By’

Filed under: O`Hanlon — Tags: , , , , , — Mao @ 10:26 pm

Julie and Asia O`Hanlon have had a happy life, despite their ‘unconventional’ marriage.  Timothy is about to head off to University and Maggie is enjoying her teen years.

Julie and Asia might have gray hair now, but they’re still as happy as they were when they met.  Sure, a lot of time has passed, and maybe some arguments and bad words have been said, but in the end, they’re in love.  They’re lucky, too, with two great kids like Timothy and Maggie.

Timothy is overjoyed to find out that both he and his longtime girlfriend, Isolde Anderson, have been accepted to Boreal Summit University.  In his joy, he nearly squeezes the life out of poor Isolde.  Unfortunately, she can’t really share his festive nature, as she has bigger things in mind than just college.  Her days with Lilith Yu have opened her eyes up to a world of possibility and supernatural that not everyone can understand.  She can’t wait to embrace it fully.

Maggie, meanwhile, is still burning things.  She tries so hard to cook, but it just isn’t in her.  The fire department is on speed dial now and when they see their number come up, well, they’re not surprised.  Maggie has made friends with the local fire company, that’s for sure.  They’ve saved her life–and the kitchen–more times than they’ve fetched cats out of trees!

When she’s not burning things, she tries to find interest in boys, but it just isn’t there.  They’re all so… boring.  All they want to talk about is sports or stupid things and Maggie finds herself drifting off.  She feels like her life has find reached a lull at such a young age and hungers for something to liven it up.  She’s sure she’ll find something when Timothy stops hovering over her and goes off to college.  She had already gotten in trouble for sneaking off with her cousin, Cole Anderson.

——————-

Note from Mao: Sorry this one is so short, all Maggie did was burn things!  That girl, I swear.  No worries, the Anderson update will… definitely make up for it.  I still can’t believe what happened, lol.

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