Be Careful What You Wish For: City of Love

"I don't understand, Grandpa Beren, why finding a husband is so hard. I just want another Dad, since my first Dad died before I was even born!"

"Believe me, it can be really hard sometimes. I searched all of Sunset Valley, and Champs Les Sims, before finding Lakesha."

"Grandma Mellie told me that you and Grandma Lakesha got divorced."

"Yes, well, if she had been more open with me about the fact that she didn't take orc invasions seriously, that wouldn't have happened."

"I heard about that, too."

"And are you prepared for orcs?"

".............................. You're cute, Grandpa B!"

Lorien's up on all the ghostly gossip.

Last chapter, Bree finally realized that it's over with Nick (I hope) and has put her marriage wish on the back burner in order to focus on a wish to date 10 sims. I won't let her throw in the towel completely. If she falls in love, we'll trash the date wish so she can get married.

Fully back on the market, Bree, once again, explores her options.

"Hey Courtney! I haven't seen you since I switched departments! What happened to your wings?"

That's my bad. I have ONE fairy family in my bin and SP made a whole bunch of immigrants out of them. Afraid we were going to be overrun, I started taking the wings off of all the fairies I came across around town. Leslie was the only one I cared about. Courtney's were sacrificed and he's now human.

Maybe that's what made him more attractive?

"So, Courtney, since you and I don't work together anymore, what do you think of kicking our relationship up a notch?"

"I think that's a great idea!!"

And it's a date!

After the kiss, Bree rolled several romantic wishes for Courtney that I couldn't lock in. So she decided to take the big step.

"I've learned that it helps a lot to not assume and to just come out and ask this so, want to be my boyfriend? As in, real boyfriend, no wives or other girlfriends on the side. Just you and me."

"Yes! I'd love to!"

"Great! Now if you'll excuse me, it's my birthday!"

She had to leave the bar and have her birthday on the sidewalk, during which Courtney decided it was late and he had to go, but he had a great time! No matter. Bree made it official.

My favorite fairy has her teen birthday party at the park. Eveline and Courtney are locked in a battle of wills over the last fuck.

"I wish to try to make the Simgod suffer for one last generation."

She rolled "cat person" for her trait. Thanks, Lori. Thanks a lot.

"Hey Jill, guess what?"

"What?"

"Bree's boyfriend left the party right after Lori blew her candles out, and didn't say a word to Bree!"

"Oh shit, trouble in paradise already, huh?"

"*giggle* Looks like. That girl knows how to pick 'em."

You know it's bad when the toddlers gossip about you over the block table. And yes, Courtney bailed pretty much right away. It's not looking good.

Bree throws another party the next day, to fulfill an opportunity.

"Aunt Linda! I'm so glad you made it!"

"Thanks, hon. It is nice to get out of the house now that Steve is gone."

"I'm so sorry, Aunt Linda. You guys fought all the time but I'm sure you miss him."

"I do, I really do."

"So ........ Gregg and Rainbow."

"Oh god, do not get me started on those two!!"

I had hoped that we could go more than one generation in Twinbrook before the Incest Train put down a stop. Apparently not. Gregg is Linda's son, Rainbow is Arathorn's daughter. So Rainbow is dating her father's first cousin.

"So where's this new boyfriend of yours?"

"I don't know! I invited him, he said he was coming. But he's not answering my calls or texts. I hope he's alright!"

"I hope he's not watering someone else's pasture. You know how men are!"

"Courtney's not like that!"

"Hmmhmm, of course he's not."

So where is the old boy, anyway?

"A whole building with nothing but books! She'll never find me here."

He spent the whole afternoon at the library instead of going to Bree's party. I checked his traits, he's not absent-minded. Don't know what his excuse is.

Bree asks him out on a date the next day.

"Where were you yesterday? Why didn't you come to my party? Did you forget? I tried to call and text but you never answered!"

"I'm so sorry, babe! I dropped my phone in the toilet and it had to sit in rice all day! I was so freaked out about it that I forgot about the party, and I didn't have my calendar notifications to remind me."

"Oh..................okay. Well, your phone must be working now since I was able to call you today. Heh-heh, I guess you just need to be a little more careful, huh?"

"LOL! You know it! Let me make it up to you. How does a bottle or two of the Vueve you like sound?"

"That sounds perfect, Courtney! Thank you!!"

"France? Really? That sounds super cool! I'll have to ask my mom.................... No, it'll have to wait until morning. Her new boyfriend is here and, from the look of things, there was some alcohol consumed, and I'm assuming he's spending the night............Oh, that was too much information? Sorry.................... Yeah, I'll call you tomorrow and let you know. Thank you!!"

He did spend the night.

"Mom, guess what!! My social studies teacher called last night and asked me if I wanted to do a special assignment. She wants me to go to France and interview a French sim, then write a report about it for class. That sounds so fun, Mom! Can I do it?"

"Oh, I don't know, Lori. That's an awfully long distance for you to go by yourself, don't you think?"

"Can't you go with me?"

"It's just not a good time for me right now, sweetie. Courtney and I just got serious and I'm trying to give this relationship a real chance. I'd rather not go so far away if it can be helped."

"But .... you JUST started seeing him! You've only been on a couple of dates. Not to mention he left my birthday party early, and didn't even show up to that work party you threw. You may be serious about this relationship, but I don't think he is."

"Excuse me? Young lady, I think you're overstepping just a little bit here. You haven't spent any time with Courtney and don't know him as well as I do. He is my actual boyfriend now, he said so. So this IS serious and I'm going to treat it as such. Now I'm sorry about this trip but I've said 'no', and that's final!"

"Hmph. I'm never going to get to go anywhere and it's all HER fault. Her and her loser boyfriends. Just wait, this one'll never last. I'll bet he won't even show up for their stupid date today."

Which is exactly what happened. And, being Bree, she took it straight to the source.

"Huh, I wonder who's at the door."

"Where were you?!? Why didn't you show up??"

"What?"

"We had a date this morning, at the arcade. REMEMBER???"

"What are you yelling at me for? I TOLD you that my phone is really unreliable. I don't always get messages and notifications!"

"That's crap, Courtney! You don't forget to go to work, or to go out with your buddies. If you wanted to, you'd find a way to remember our dates!"

"So what are you saying?"

"I'm saying that you don't seem to want to remember."

"You know, maybe if you weren't such a needy, whiny, insecure bitch, I'd be more inclined to remember. But ever since we started going out you've wanted me to spend every fucking second with you! All these dates and parties, I have a life you know! And it doesn't revolve around you!"

"Are you serious? Then what the hell are we even doing with this relationship? If you don't want to spend any time with me, why are you with me?"

"I don't know, you're hot and you like to woohoo. It was fun at first."

"I see........."

"Oh come on, Bree. That's not what I mean."

"I'm going to go. Don't follow me, don't call me. We're done. We never should have gotten together in the first place. This whole thing was a mistake."

"Fine, whatever. Just get out. Lord knows I've got other shit going on. And no worries, I won't be calling."

Courtney moved on before Bree even made it to the bar. Good luck with that, Court. I hope Linda runs you over with the karma truck, several times.

"You look like you're having a bad day."

"You have no idea."

"Man trouble? Woman trouble?"

"Man trouble. I really do want to get married some day, but it appears that I'm terrible at picking boyfriends. Maybe I'm just not meant to get married."

"Well, it certainly ain't all it's cracked up to be, that's for sure. You don't need it to be happy. Here, enjoy this one on the house. Give yourself a little while to think on it. Take a vacation if you can. Sometimes the same problems can look a lot different after you get away for awhile."

"*sigh* That's not a bad idea. Not bad at all."

"Lori, I'm sorry about this morning. I shouldn't have blown you off like that. It sounds like this trip could be a really good opportunity for you. If you still want to go, I'll take you. I think it could be fun!"

"You and Courtney got in a fight this morning, didn't you?"

"............................................... Yeah."

"Are you still together?"

"No."

"Hmmm. Sorry, Mom."

"Eh, that's okay. So........................do you still want to go to France?"

"Sure. Why not."

So they packed up, and off they went.

"Alright, you have to go interview somebody?"

"Yep. Where do you think I should go? It needs to be a local and not a tourist."

"How about the Nectary? There will be a lot of tourists there, but the people that work there are most likely locals."

"That could work. What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to head over to the market, get a cup of coffee or something."

"Cool! This shouldn't take very long, how about I meet you there?"

"Ok. Good luck!"

"Excuse me, are you a local? Do you live here in Champs Les Sims?"

"Oui, mademoiselle. I have lived here all my life."

"Awesome! Do you have a minute? My name is Lorien, and I have to interview a French local for a school assignment. Could I interview you?"

"Of course! It is still early. Most of ze tourists will not be here for another hour or so. So I have a little time. My name is Vivienne."

"Thank you,Vivienne! What is it like, living in Champs Les Sims?"

"It is a lovely place to live, Lorien. Beautiful countryside, delicious food, breathtaking artwork, I enjoy living here very much."

"Did you ever get to go to school?"

"School? No, not as such. When I was a little girl, my mother and father taught me at home. I learned to read and write, do maths, make nectar, I learned about the history of Champs Les Sims, all ze important things."

"But you never got to go to school?"

"No, mademoiselle. There is no such thing here."

"Do you think you'll ever get to travel?"

"Travel? Oh no, I do not think so. Everything we need is right here in Champs Les Sims. None of us ever travel, who would take care of the tourists? OH, wait, I do know of one girl who got to go live in a foreign land. Little Eveline Fouchier. When she became a teenager a family from Sunset Valley took her back to their home as an exchange student. We all thought she would come back, but no one has heard from her since."

"Eveline? I know her! My family took her in. She's like an aunt to me."

"Really? That is amazing! How is she?"

"She's doing really well. She graduated from high school and married my mom's cousin. They have two kids, a girl and a boy. They moved to Twinbrook when we did, so I see her at all our parties."

"So she is happy?"

"She sure seems like it."

"That is wonderful! I am very happy for her. Eveline was always so restless. She talked about a friend of hers, a tourist named Ben, or something. She always wanted to leave to go visit him but no one thought it was really possible. I am glad she got to go somewhere and find happiness. I do thank you, Lorien, for coming to see me. I am afraid we must conclude this interview, as a group of tourists has just arrived. Say hello to Eveline and her family, from us in Champs Les Sims, when you see her!"

"I will! And thank you!"

Aren't you supposed to meet your mother at the market?

"I will. Vivienne said that nectar tastings are free, so I'm gonna try some."

I think Vivienne may have overestimated your age.

"WHEN is it going to be my turn? This girl is taking all the good nectar!"

"Wait your turn, creepy dude."

Well?

"It's not bad. Tastes kinda oaky, with a hint of ginseng, of all the weird things."

NOBODY LOOK!! It's Eveline2.0. Yeah, this whole thing will fall completely apart if you give it more than a passing glance.

"Eh, you're cute and all, but I'm rolling absolutely no romantic wishes for you. So I'm going to go back to the hostel and meet my daughter there."

"Oh. Alright, Madame. I do apologize."

"No worries. I didn't have high hopes for this trip. I may come back tomorrow and try again."

"Um, I will not be here, but perhaps my colleague, Gerard, will be able to help you."

"No offense, Pierre, but I'm not counting on it."

You've been texting all morning. Who are you talking to?

"Pascal."

That boy you talked to for 10 seconds at the Nectary?

"Yup. He's cute!"

I guess so. She must have autonomously texted him 4 or 5 times, and then called him all on her own as well, so I decided to let her go visit him.

"This is a nice house! Old-fashioned, in a cool sort of way."

"Hi Pascal! Thanks for letting me come over."

"You're welcome! I'm so glad you called me!"

"Me too. It was fun meeting you at the Nectary yesterday."

"It really was. I have never seen a fairy before. You have the prettiest wings ever, Lorien!"

"Aw, thank you! They're just like my dad's!"

Lorien is not kidding around.

"I really like you, Pascal!"

"I really like you, too!"

"I think you are the prettiest girl to ever come to Champs Les Sims!"

It's that simple.

I queued up a bunch of romantic interactions for them (after changing their relationship in MC because stupid game) and went to check on Bree. I was figuring on going the whole "exchange student" thing again, because really what else am I going to do, so I wanted Bree to come to the house and talk to Pascal's parents. Well, she was already talking to his father.

"I must say, Mademoiselle, that you have excellent taste in color."

"Why, thank you, Gerard! That's a real compliment coming from someone so handsome!"

Alrighty then. While keeping half an eye on Lorien and Pascal, I let these two do their thing in hopes that Bree would throw some relevant wishes.

After a whole lot of futzing around, including some heavy flirting, she didn't wish for anything more than to be his best friend. The time for Bree and Lorien to go home was approaching, and wanting to make Pascal part of the household, my attention was needed elsewhere. So Bree cut her losses and said goodbye to Gerard. The moment, and I mean the very second she said goodbye, she rolled this wish.

Finally! Talk about cutting it down to the wire.

"Bree! You came back. Did you forget something?"

"Well, yes, I did!"

Okay Gerard, don't be douchebag. I'm getting tired of this.

There was not much time for screwing around. With judicious use of MC, Gerard broke up with his wife, and he and Pascal were added to the household and everyone whooshed back to Twinbrook.

And now there are four!

The new kids! Neither one of them are getting those LTWs, by the way. Been there, done that. For reasons unknown, their travel time got extended when these two joined the household. No matter, we were done with the trip anyway.

Almost as soon as they touched down in Twinbrook, Lorien announced her LTW.

Awesome! I like this one. It should be easy to do with a fairy. Now she can use that alchemy station she wished for several years ago.

She went to the Alchemy Shoppe to pick up some basic supplies, and get started on her gem/seed/metal/insect collections. Time to get gardening, Lorien!

"I'm not exactly sure of what I'm looking for. I want to be an alchemist. I already have the mixing station, what else do I need?"

"Well, if you're just starting out, you should get some red valerian, some mandrake root, and wolfsbane flower. A few mushrooms wouldn't hurt either."

"Cool! Thanks! What about that pickled freezer bunny?"

"The only real purpose that serves is to freak your guests out."

"Really? I'll take one of those, too."

Meanwhile, Bree fulfilled a wish to go to the park. It was .......... interesting.

"This is awkward. Coming to the park may not have been a good idea."

Tigger: "This is NOT the gym! I wanted to go to the gym! I'm gonna get that cab driver FIRED!!"

Sophia: "*sigh* I knew we should have gotten a babysitter."

Oh look, it's ex-~~fuckboy~~ boyfriend day!

Nick: "Who is this dude Rene is talking to? "

Greta: "Don't worry about it, Dad. Just enjoy the beautiful vista."

Rene: "Hi, I'm Rene. My dick of a husband cheated on me, wanna go have some revenge woohoo?"

Courtney: "I'll meet you in the bathroom."

So when I first brought everyone back to Twinbrook, I got Gerard and Pascal their own place. I wanted to wait for Pascal and Lorien to grow up, and I wanted to see if Bree would wish to move in with/marry Gerard. The game had other ideas.

First this little number popped up. I checked Lorien and Pascal's relationship status just in case the trip back to Twinbrook fucked things up.

According to Lorien's friends list, Pascal is her boyfriend.

But when I asked MC, it said that Pascal is single.

I quickly check on Gerard.

Phew. So it wasn't universal, it's unique to Pascal. I found him in town and used MC to make him just acquaintances with Suzanne, and boyfriend to Lorien.

It didn't stick.

I tried to fix it again, but I can't change the fact that MC (and thusly, SP) see Pascal as single. So I had Lorien track his ass down.

"What do you mean 'you have to first kiss again'? We did this already. Lorien got the happiness points and everything."

Yes, well, you're some kind of special snowflake, Pascal.

Clearly the first First one didn't count.

Take two.

And no dice. Pascal is still single and there's no "propose to go steady" option, even though Lorien is extremely irresistible. So I went with the Hail Mary Pass.

And used MC to add him to the household. I thought about adding Gerard, but since his relationship with Bree didn't glitch, I decided to wait on him and just move in Pascal. I still couldn't get Pascal's relationship status to change, but since he's now controllable he won't be getting busy with any other girls.

Coming up next chapter, Lorien and Pascal grow up, and we have a beautiful wedding.

Opportunities