Squee! Did Una grow up color-coordinating with Mommy, or did we only get post-makeover shots?

Oh, River, don't do this to yourself! Those straight best friends'll break your heart.

Skye's reaction to Woody's project shouldn't have been such a surprise, but it is hard to keep track of exactly how innocent he is, even for me. There are places anybody else's mind would go that he doesn't even know exist. I really hope, for Dora's sake, that she can bring him up to speed by spring.

That was a good party, and not a single slapfest! I'm a little surprised (since relatives always know where the love tags are) that Beulah and Homer didn't get mad at Val and Daytona, but it is wonderful what mods can do. Mary seemed to get through that very well and Val's trying to make it as easy on her as he can (Daytona's supremely ill-timed leap having taken him by surprise), but telling herself she has no right to her feelings just makes her feelings hurt more. (Been there, done that.) And as for Val not being the jealous type - yeah, right. I wonder if having to watch Junior with Mary without letting on is making him pricklier toward Peter.

At least he can be completely open about policing Goldie with her boyfriend. Nobody's a bigger prude than an old rake with a teen-age daughter. They're getting it from all sides, now, though ("Please restore Miss Hart to an upright position!"); and since nobody's riding Virgie and Scot particularly that could get counterproductive real fast.

It's nice to glimpse Skye in teacher-mode, which apparently clears the awkwardness right up. I understand giving Scot extra work to do, but he needs to arrange some special tutoring for Goldie, too. Hmmmm...how oblivious is he to undercurrents, I wonder? Because telling Virgie off to help her could become interesting. It's a pain that only older people from your own household can Help with Homework, but you've created tougher illusions right along.

On the one hand, Penny doesn't know anything about Sandy's marriage; on the other hand, she is perfectly entitled not to understand at this point in time, and it was unreasonable of Sandy to expect her to try. I doubt getting more seriously involved with Hamilton would lead to many insights, either, since she's friends with Daytona and would handle her interference very differently. Sandy really should have known better than to come to this particular house looking to feel better about herself. Sandy should have known better than a lot of things.

I'm not sure how I like Hamilton and Penny together - but hey, my opinion's not the one that counts, and so far they barely count as "together" anyway. I certainly don't hate it as much as Woody will when he finds out; which he's bound to, even though Penny's not going around telling the world this time.

Of course Una gets all her toddler skills early! This baby is consistently the best and fastest-educated in the neighborhood, even without an on-duty grandma.

Is there a Part 3, or do we have to wait a whole season to find out more about Skye and Woody's special project?

No Part 3, although I definitely could've spread some of this out instead of wrangling it into submission to keep it down to two, so it'll be a while before we get back to the "weird science" going on at the Weisses.

It never occurred to Skye to question Woody's motives, her shape indicates that she is female and there it is; all he saw were 'the possibilities!', very unlike those Woody had envisioned. Although with his father more or less having taken over and a flesh and blood companion now hanging around, Woody's priorities may just shift a bit.

For right now River is getting exactly what he wants, how could that possibly go wrong!

On the other hand, I expect Penny and Hamilton will be just fine, though as a couple they make about as little sense as Penny accused Sandy and Rhett of making. But she doesn't have any long-term expectations (of course, neither did Rhett!) so with the two of them it's very much leap first and justify afterwards. Hamilton is older and more experienced so he's not really concerned about rationalising taking this thing with Penny for what it is but more with making sure she's on the same page so his conscience doesn't get in the way. And even though Penny initiated contact, she is kind of following his lead. If he had phrased himself differently and actually asked her on a date or initiated more romantic contact instead of saying, essentially, 'you don't wanna go on a date, do you', she probably would've responded differently although that wouldn't make it any less of a bad, or "weird", idea. But it's a new experience and he's not Rhett so she's enjoying herself.

Skye bought himself some time, ironically by taking a giant leap forward in their relationship but Dora is realising that he needs to be wooed, he's very responsive to little romantic gestures which is starting to relax his guard but she hasn't abandoned the idea of tracking down some horny goat weed just in case!

The party was fun but what surprised me, because I wasn't paying attention, was finding Rhett arguing with Dora. I assume they were both waiting for the bathroom to be free and casual chitchat devolved from there but it was too funny to me to leave out, even though there are a lot of party pics. And it actually might have become a slapfest if Mary weren't so well trained. I'd noticed her standing there scowling for a while and it turned out that she was politely waiting to slap the stuffing out of Valentine but she must've been queue-blocked, which I decided to interpret as her trying to reason herself out of her rage and taking stock of where she was and who was around and how thing stood now. It didn't completely work to settle her feelings but her impulse to act out timed out.

I love Una to bits! Toddler shots are always going to be post-makeover because the infant hair makes them grow up without the back of their scalps but that's a minor sacrifice for a little differentiation. She is definitely doted upon by all but I don't know yet if Penny will be ready to reciprocate Sandy's gesture and allow Una to visit with her dad at his house, I doubt she's even willing to trust Rhett with full responsibility yet so if she insists on accompanying her over there that could get interesting. Especially because no matter how casual they keep things, being with Hamilton will have an influence.

So was this enough for Mary to fall out of love with him? Because that's the only permanent solution, and seems to be what he's going for with this policy of avoidance. Which he has to realize is untenable long-term in a town this size. Sooner or later someone (very likely Penny, but possibly Daytona or her parents or - heaven forfend! - a Mann) will notice that these two out of all the people in town never, ever speak to each other in public, and draw conclusions. She does have plenty of right to be mad at him (and it's good that the mad is directed at him and not Daytona) and the sooner she allows herself that, the better for her. Then, maybe, they can have a proper air-clearing fight and settle into an equilibrium that allows them to behave normally around each other.

Rhett and Dora was probably six of one, half dozen of the other. Rhett's always up for a nose-flick, but Dora isn't exactly a warm fuzzy herself, if you're not inside her circle of love - and Rhett is not, but is standing way too close to several people who are. He may even remind her too much of somebody from her past, and I doubt Skye can say anything bad about him that she wouldn't take at face value. (In my game she picks on Valentine, heartfarting him madly all the time. I've decided she's a bit of a crazed fan.)

It'll be interesting to see Dora's reaction to Woody's project - because her mind is a long way from innocent, and will be making a beeline to the correct place!

Penny may not trust Rhett or Sandy with Una - but she would trust Valentine and Goldie, I think. Valentine's playdate idea would work well for that - Goldie brings Una after school, Candy brings Richie, he gets all his grandchildren together in his house and doesn't have to look at his son-in-law or risk altercations between any set of parents. Penny picking Una up on her way home from the store would be the only potential flash point, and he'd have both his daughters there to help him run interference.

How well Hamilton and Penny works long-term would depend partly on how Daytona reacts to it when she finds out. Which she's bound to do. Nothing to do there but see what develops, if anything. Yeah, Hamilton's older, but he's still got growing up to do, and doesn't know it - the way the break up happened, he never had to face what he was doing wrong in the marriage. Penny is so thoroughly different from Sandy, though, that falling into old patterns isn't possible. So this one's wide open. Almost anything from fizzling out to power coupledom could happen.

Maybe Woody and River can experiment without long-term repercussions. But it's not the way to bet! Something (possibly just the dominant construction of cultural narratives) about that experimental phase makes it a lot easier to parse and forgive those we experimented with who moved on to people the same gender as us than those who switch-hit. Well, they're young yet. It'd be weird if they never screwed up, and they won't get anywhere being too careful. And anyway it's too late for caution now.

I don't think she did fall out of love with him but I rather like the idea of Mary keeping Valentine in her heart so I think what I may do is alter her jealousy settings so that she won't keep having it broken. By him, anyway. She's got other priorities and enough other avenues for drama in her life and she's demonstrated a willingness to move on. A good fight could clear the air and clear the way toward resolution but tapping into those feelings and letting herself get all impassioned could easily have the opposite effect. Aside from her natural conflict aversion, she actually knows that's a temptation to avoid; Val likes a little fire in a woman, or a lot. His marriage, in particular, was built around the fireworks and he's trying but that old rake is not completely reformed.

It was brief so I tossed it in with the Peter/Val/Daytona stuff but Dora surely noticed Skye and Rhett "havin' words" earlier so while I would assume the mechanics were that Rhett most likely started it and Dora gave back as good as she got, story-wise she initiated taking him to task. Dora as a crazed fan is hilarious. Here she's cordial with Val but when Skye is around she's got no thoughts to spare for any other feller. There is no way she, or Penny for that matter, would mistake the intentions behind Woody's project. If it were to be introduced to them as Woody's project. (Or introduced to them at all.)

Penny would need assurances still. The way she feels right now she just doesn't want Sandy around her child. She's not even sold on letting Samantha look after her because even though she thinks they'll eventually be friends she's aware of Sam's discomfort and she doesn't want any part of that attitude projected around Una. It isn't likely, if for no other reason than that Una looks fully sim (and next to the twins she's certainly not going to stand out), but Penny is a young first time mother with some emotional baggage of her own even though she manages it better than Woody (most of the time) so she's a little cautious. And of course with the spring weather there will be plenty of opportunity to let Rhett get to spend some time with his firstborn, if he chooses to follow through that is, on neutral territory. Depending on how that goes, she may begin to relent.

Daytona certainly will find out so that's all I'm going to say about that but the chances of Penny falling into Sandy's trap are virtually nil. Though how much, in fact, Hamilton will learn about himself through his relationship with Penny remains to be seen. He and Sandy have not managed a civil conversation since he found out about Rhett, not even about the kids let alone about what went wrong between them, but things are changing, professionally and personally for him, so he may not be inclined to repeat the same mistakes even if he hasn't learned why they were mistakes. But without the learning, how long could that really last?

River has had an eye on Woody for a little while now, even before he teenified he seemed a bit smitten although I only made the flimsiest allusion in an earlier part, so if he thinks he's simply taking a page from Dixie's book and having a little fun with the nearest available boy (even if he had to manipulate the situation ever so slightly to make that boy available to him) he's probably kidding himself. And seeing as how he watched just how well that didn't work out for her, well, we'll see how he handles it. He might feel that a little heartbreak is still better than waiting around for life to happen to him. Waiting until he was an adult most likely in that town to have his first kiss? No thanks. But it's possible he and his hormones may have jumped the gun. More folks are due to be "passin' through", or so they think!

Anything you do that can keep Mary from being in constant pain from the edges of her heart grinding together, I'm in favor of! Though that 'by him, anyway' sounds ominous. Now I'm wondering if it's foreshadowing, or generalized distrust of Junior.

It's true that it's easy to start a scene with Mary and Val fighting and end with them horizontal, or even rocking a photo booth if nobody else is in the building. In my game the only time they ever fought, she was the one who wouldn't let go, though - as opposed to the simultaneous fight with Junior, which she walked away from with few visible regrets. Possibly because Junior slapped her and Valentine didn't, or possibly because of the baby. Or possibly because what she loves most about Valentine is that he encourages her in behavior she'd internalized as "bad" (at least when she did it). My Val not only actively interferes with her cleaning, he tends to look absurdly proud of her any time he can goad her into sassing him, or she tells a dirty joke, or extricates herself from an uncomfortable situation by herself. He takes all the credit for teaching her to do those things. Not that she doesn't still want to be good, but that Valentine expands, upends, and relaxes the definition of what "good" is.

I saw Skye and Rhett in that shot, but it hardly seemed worth mentioning, because they're bound to get into it any time they're on the same lot. Where was Skye during Rhett's visit in Part One, anyway? The fact that he wasn't around can't have been coincidental. Goldie must have known he'd be out and helped Rhett time things just right to avoid him. Yet, as much as evading Skye is likely to have motivated Rhett to stay away, he never once tried to use Skye's hostility as an excuse for not having come to see Una before. So there's such a thing as a gaping pit he's smart enough to avoid; or possibly even an excuse he can recognize as inherently unsound. That's good to know.

Penny is bound to get at least some of her parenting style from Skye, so protecting Una from the breath of possibility of catching attitude from Sandy, Samantha, or any random person on the street makes sense. A word to that effect to Valentine would be enough to get Sandy evicted for the duration of an all-grandchild playdate, though - Val's not so thrilled about Sandy at this point that he'd prioritize her feelings over what would seem to him to be a brilliant idea, if the idea did occur to him.

In fact, as long as Proxy's taken care of I doubt he'd worry about Sandy too much if she went out and never came back. Maybe I underestimate him and she's gotten into his circle of protection as an indivisible unit with Proxy; but if I were her, I wouldn't assume it. His coziness with Daytona and Sandy's dependent position put her one custody suit away from losing the only person she has left. She needs Valentine's good will, and she needs it now.

It's a shame there's always so many more possibilities to explore than there are hours to play the game. Though it sounds like you've decided to pick up on a possibility discussed earlier to give River and Woody wider dating choices. I'll be over here chewing my knuckles and checking back obsessively for a month or so...

Wish I could say of course, it won't be a month, but...it may. I've got another trip scheduled soon and after the summer of crises I'm definitely looking forward to getting away for a while. I would love to get this next bit up before I go, though, but my simming time keeps getting detoured into not actually simming. I did, however, manage to get all the pics for both parts of the Weiss updates re-linked so even if someone happens to scroll back to an older chapter and my photobucket bandwidth runneth over, they'll still be up. (And while I was at it, I was able to restore a handful of excised pics and dialogue since it's mostly pb's coding that eats away at my character limits. It doesn't warrant a re-perusal since they were expendable but you've just reminded me that I still forgot the line to account for whereabouts during Rhett's visit and that's one I hadn't meant to leave out in the first place. Darn.)

Yes, if Rhett had opened his mouth to blame her father and his threats for his own failures as a father he would've gotten a thorough drubbing from Penny, worse than it was, and there's no way he'd have made it back across that threshold, not that day. Skye actually was around but I probably had him busy earning up robotics experience in the background but at some point he did come in to clear away a mug from the table, glowering at Rhett holding Una but saying nothing. The pic was in the first round cuts so it wasn't there in my uploads to restore and now I see why, based on the way I combined that last group it doesn't work, the angle is all wrong and I also couldn't fit how Penny paused to smooth the furrow from her dad's brow before feeding Una. He made up for holding his tongue then by giving Rhett a piece of his mind at the party.

Skye was somewhat more courteous to Valentine, shaking his hand, but only as a means of kicking him out once the party wound down. Being in love with Dora he has less reason for latent jealous feelings toward Val but Dora would've been mighty jealous if she found out Valentine and Daytona nearly broke in their bed before she's had a chance to! But where Daytona hesitated and agreed to pump the brakes, given what she knew, Lana would have powered full steam ahead in her position. Of course, she had no reason to be there and wasn't invited but stealing another woman's thunder would've been right up her alley and there is a question of just how much does Lana want to be in Daytona's position. I think she rolled a want to fall in love with Val (and recover some semblance of her lifestyle into the bargain, perhaps) but I'm not sure. Lana is not going to be able to cajole her way back into his good graces but she's the one who will most likely lure him into bouts of angry woohoo. And should Sandy witness Rich's ex strutting out of Val's room alternately with her ex mother-in-law that may prove an interesting nugget of information to add to her hoard.

So far Val's attitude toward Sandy is one of mere tolerance. He definitely puts her in the wrong for being so reckless with his son, knowing the boy already had obligations he wasn't ready or able to meet. But Sandy will likely manage to ingratiate herself. She doesn't really have a choice. Just imagine if she lost Proxy and that safe roof over her head (well, safe-ish since Rich did still manage to get Candy out of there) while remaining in Rich's sights and somewhat in his debt! Even with Val's unwitting protection, that isn't over yet, so Sandy had better keep her head. Val's goodwill also depends, at least in part, on her holding Rhett's interest so she's got a hell of a balancing act to do, making a home in someone else's house. She's got some experience with that but even amongst the relatively laid-back Harts I think she'll find herself struggling for an outlet. Again.

If things had gone differently in my hood I could absolutely see a similar dynamic between Val and Mary. But the way things are she's never told a dirty joke in her life, not that she doesn't remember a couple that Valentine told her but that was private time talk, she couldn't see her way to repeatin' that stuff! Junior might appreciate it if she did loosen up more, or more consistently, and do so outside the bedroom.

Penny paused to smooth the furrow from her dad's brow? Aw!

The idea of Lana inviting herself to that party is pretty horrific! The woman's a blind bull in the china shop of everybody else's drama - if it doesn't touch her directly, she doesn't see or comprehend it and doesn't care to, either. Funny how that isn't any more effective in getting her what she wants than Mary's self-repressive altruism is.

Junior ought to be able to loosen Mary up more, himself. When I first set up their personality arrays I took it for granted that, in cases where they got together, Junior would teach Mary to have fun and she would help him grow up. I hardly ever see it happen, though - and they've got a lot to overcome here before it's likely. She can't loosen up as long as she's on her guard against his finding out about her and Valentine, and he can't grow up as long as his mom's calling the shots.

That ball's pretty much in his court. At this point she'd need a reason to trust him with her full history; or one to fear that he's about to figure it out on his own. Which he's capable of doing. Look how he was able to sort through his available facts and come to the correct conclusion about Rich and Candy. It wouldn't be unreasonable for her to fear that if she came out with one of Val's dirty jokes he'd ask her where she heard it. Is she a sufficiently hardened obfuscator to say: "At the Harts" and not blush or stammer or otherwise give him some reason to suspect something significant there? I doubt she'd ever risk it.

And if he did get a hint and start adding up the figures - my goodness - mightn't he factor in the wrong Hart and think it was Rhett who got there before him? That could be an interesting conversation -

Sorry, there I go again. I can't help it. You're still opening doors in this neighborhood; still in the middle of the opening set of conflicts and busy laying down potential new paths with more branches than a monkey puzzle tree. You enjoy your trip and leave all that to your backbrain and your sims.

Penny's good for running interference and un-ruffling feathers, except, of course, when she wants them ruffled.

While I neither confirm nor deny any foreshadowing ;-) I both play and project and there will be a doubt or two where Rhett is concerned flashing across Junior's mind at some point in the upcoming round. One scene pertaining to that may never make it in since it was sketched before I had played much so it may not fit when it comes down to it but the other is too hilarious to me to resist, even though it may have less funny consequences.

If Lana thinks Hamilton is made of mush then what does she make of her son? And what did she make of him? So many of Junior's weaknesses are down directly to Lana's petting him. The fact that she still regularly tousles his hair (one reason it looks like that), like he's always going to be her little Mann, is problematic; would be for any woman who married him, let alone one so accustomed to defer, particularly to a higher female power. Then again, had Rich taken him in hand Junior would be a rather different Mann but he might also be a monster. Candy had better not divest herself too much from Richie's upbringing but perhaps the Harts' influence will be an effective tonic to Rich's, because tonic he will need (and affection!) regardless of whether Rich discovers him to be another dud or the son he always wanted. So the gathering of the grandchildren would definitely be a good idea if Valentine came to consider it, though just then he was thinking more of finding an outlet for Candy through Penny. She's family now and moreover she's a peer; Penny should be able to draw her out some and without Rich having much to say about it. Val can't quite put his finger on what's wrong in his daughter's marriage (apart from Everything) but he doesn't like the hold Rich seems to have over her.

Lana's been on my mind, as you can see, as I ease into playing Round 3 because, while Val wasn't paying attention, she did watch Hamilton sneak off to the roof with Penny. If he were only still married what a boon that would be! Daytona's finicky enough about preserving her legacy to be ripe for plucking (though Val is not a concession she'd ever make and Lana needs to be careful about openly antagonising Rich, being seen to enter even an uneasy alliance with Daytona is a risk). But interpreting revenge coupling still makes Hamilton more interesting to her. He may not be made entirely of mush after all. One of the more frustrating things about Candy having usurped her is that Candy's other lover was her son! When it comes to the kind of vengeance she liked best (one should strike at the pockets, of course, and let thine enemy know: anything you can do I can do better--honestly, she and Rich were so perfect together), her hands were tied (that's why she kicked her).

So many possibilities, indeed, but must leave some surprises to savour!

Doubts about Rhett are a natural thing to cross the mind of anyone who knows him, especially anyone with any sort of relationship with a woman. Even if you trust the woman! Because you can pretty much take it for granted that if Rhett sees a chance, he'll try to take it, friendship be damned - and he does look at Mary fairly often. I'm fairly certain the only reason he never made a pass at her is her relationship to Valentine - that's one area he'd know better than to even try to compete with his old man in. It might even squick him, assuming he's squickable.

The sweetest Rhett story I've collected is an early one. My first playtester married Mary to Val, by which time she was friends with Rhett. Rhett woke up on the day of the wedding with a "Kiss Mary" want in his panel, and as soon as the ceremony was over he went up to her and filled it with Family Kiss!

I don't know whether Mary can stand up to her mother-in-law on behalf of her husband, and even if she can, it's not her job; but I bet she could, and am sure she should, stand up on behalf of her children. Lana's capable of spoiling them exactly the way she's spoiled Junior, and Mary's the only one in position to stop her, because it'll seem normal to Junior. Rich, for his part, is capable of being the scariest helicopter parent/grandparent you've ever seen!

Only Junior can save himself from his past. I doubt anyone but Mary can show him he needs saving.

Once Richie is big enough to be a person and, therefore, interesting, Candy may get more hands-on - but she could find whole new ways to spoil him, too. The extended Hart clan are his best bet to grow up a tolerable human being. When I put it like that, it sounds almost hopeless, since the Harts are such a mess. Unconditional love - they do that much right, anyway.

Valentine must've seen a lot of marriages in his time, right ones and wrong ones, ones that looked wrong to everyone but the people inside them, ones that looked right to everyone but the principals; so there is hope that he'll get to the bottom of this one.

Valentine and Daytona have both thought of Rich as shady, but it's not clear how many people in town understand that he's a thorough-going criminal, as opposed to an unscrupulous and ruthless business man taking full advantage of the letter of the law and greasing the occasional palm. If Valentine does find out that his precious daughter's married into the mob, I wouldn't put anything past him to get her out. But there's an imbalance of power there he's not positioned well to overcome. Homer does not, on the face of it, make the law look like a very powerful ally, even if cops and Candy did mix; and if Daytona knew how to take Rich down, she'd already be working on it.

Has Junior figured out where the wealth he was raised on came from? My impression is that he's been kept in the dark and has a vague and skewed notion of what is and is not an acceptable business practice.

Candy seems to have been figuring things out as she goes rather than having been told any details, though presumably his endgame involves grooming her into a full partner in crime ala Lana eventually, if only so she can look after his heir's interests if Rich doesn't live long enough to hand over the reins. But of course he fully intends to live that long!

I trust you to reveal all in good time.

I'm not sure Rhett is squickable come to that, it remains to be seen. Perhaps on certain days. But most others that Hart wants what he wants. In this he is definitely intimidated by his Pop, so much so that it's why he might try, to prove that maybe he can best or at least supplant his Pop. (Talk about ineradicable cultural narratives!) That is, should an opportunity look clear, his ego is a precious commodity so he hates to get it bruised but pilfering one of Pop's would have him riding high, for a time. And Rhett's not into rockin' it to the oldies so his thoughts would naturally centre on Mary or any young groupies he saw hovering, he'd gladly take them off Pop's hands. And c'mon, laydeez, he looks practically just like him! New and improved, right? Right?! Hart 2.0! He's aware lotsa things are frowned upon by the prudes but he hasn't internalised sexual mores enough (or enough sexual mores) to fully feel the revulsion. Put it out of your mind and what's the problem? But he is capable of remorse so that's something.

Aw, that is a sweet Rhett story. I'm still waiting... Of course, I love him the way he is at this stage, he's certainly not boring, but I'm curious to see what the catalyst might be to get him to cross over into full-time grown up. Junior too.

Junior doesn't know very much about either of his parents and there were some benefits from that ignorance but if he doesn't start really questioning them both and plan and agitate for a new normal, it's going to be a bumpy road.

Lana wasn't quite a full partner, on the business end, but she was cognisant. She doesn't know where the bodies are buried, but she knows there are some buried somewhere. The rest of the townfolks don't have any clear idea that Rich is anything other than he presents himself. The fact that he now owns most of their houses, including the Lands', doesn't put them in the best position either. There was another version I remember seeing via your tumblr, Anaticula-Ana's I think, where the Widespotians came to see he wasn't just blowing hot air after all, that Rich really was a criminal, after a bank heist or something. Here, while he would never boast about his masterminding to these rubes and only Daytona would accuse him outright of being a crook, if he were ever sent up on charges there'd be a collective sigh of relief accompanied by that "aha!" moment to know there was a reason for their gut distrust.

If Homer had made some different decisions in his life he could be a match for Rich. As it is, he doesn't have any real aptitude for police work, nor interest, it's just a job he does 'cause it needed doing. How much crime could there be goin' on in Widespot? It was the perfect gig to leave him plenty of time to devote to his family and his own personal hobbies instead.

Rich needs to get Candy to start incubating the true heir first! So far, no luck, but hers might run out if she doesn't get with it soon. He's not a patient Mann, that Rich.

The state of law enforcement, of course, was one of Widespot's big draws for Rich.

He does, however, need to be a little more careful about hacking people off. No, Homer's not much on his own; Valentine's not got the resources; Daytona's more limited than she likes to think; Sandy is powerless on her own - but get a bunch of people putting their heads and resources together, and properly motivated - it would be unwise for him to underestimate what these people would do for their families, or what Daytona would do for her town and her legacy.

The only family that has nothing to hold against him is the Weisses - and that could change any time. Especially if Dora or somebody starts looking through the telescope in the daytime.

I don't think Rhett would get very far trying to sell himself to Mary as Hart 2.0 - but he doesn't necessarily know that, and Junior certainly doesn't! Hm...If Rhett did get interested in Mary, and started doing the probability study, actually thinking about why Pop dropped her (because if he's tired of her, fine, but then why does he still get so het up wondering how she is and all?), I wonder if it's possible for him to speculate his way somewhere into the vicinity of the truth? Because suspecting that Pop knocked up Mary would take away a lot of the old man's moral high ground and Rhett's willingness to sit still for being lectured about responsibility!

Rich would certainly be wise not to hasten on the instatiation of the MARM brigade, which is what the kaffee-klatsch do not as yet know they have been dubbed. Lana really is the wild card; she is the missing musketeer in a sense, she "belongs" with her peers, except of course that she doesn't, but if she could see her way to bonding and banding together with women she'd be at least as much of an asset as a liability where her ex is concerned. Lana is big on revenge and she's bold about it, joining the criminal ranks and seducing his main go-to guy are not the actions of a woman ready to concede (even if she, like Rich, is starting to feel the teensiest worry that she might be losing her touch), but she's selfish. Lana's not at all concerned about any consequences Rich's misdeeds may have for the community and she now knows that she's expendable to him so the only risks she'd willingly undertake are on her own behalf, even if those are actually far more dangerous.

Dora isn't a nosy body, so she'll tell you, but that telescope could be a tempting way to get to know more about her new neighbours. I thought it might be something she and Woody would bond over, she'd move it from the back to the town-facing side of the roof, but, well, other stuff!, as you saw. But there's always spring. I love that Rich is the default to be spied upon but I use Squinge's (pretty sure it's Squinge's) mod to choose your target and unless Rich made himself interesting to Dora she'd likely bypass him and there's no doubt whom obsessive Woody would train his sights on if inspired enough to get past his telescope phobia to peep. Although...Hamilton's bedroom is more immediately accessible and Woody might see something through that window he'd wish to unsee!

I don't see Rhett arriving at that particular truth unless he were to catch Val mutterring something specifically about Mary's babies. He's still not completely convincd Junior did that. And if Rhett found out and ran with that, well... :-D

That's going to eat at Val the rest of his life, unless the twins let him off the hook by displaying beady eyes or massive noses. Given how he is about his offspring, standing back and watching another man (especially Junior!) raising his kids, and not being able to be a significant part of their lives without doing damage to their lives - well, if his behavior toward Mary deserves punishment, that'll do it, in spades.

It might even drive him to create situations in which he can interact with them without disrupting anything or rousing suspicion, which he normally wouldn't consider. I've got him coaching "Little League," specifically because the Beeches decided to stay together and pretend nothing was wrong, but Sandy's son grew into a sports nut, so becoming "Coach" was a way to get to know his grandson that Daytona found acceptable.

Lana is selfish, certainly, but she does love Junior (however dysfunctionally) and could very well love her grandchildren enough to take a risk for their sake. Since they're Rich's grandchildren, too, it's conceivable she might have to, if - for example - Candy doesn't produce a satisfactory heir. Or he might decide he needs to claim ownership of Avery and Annie on general principles. That would have to be a late development, though, and emerge through gameplay over time, as it's easier to see the shape of the possibility than to concoct a plausible scenario motivating him to try it. And he'd deserve what he'd get when the entire Land family rallied against him, too - I don't think it would be in any way safe to mess with Buelah's precious grandchildren!

For now, and fortunately for them, Rich is not concerned with the dud or his breeding efforts with a Land. But you never know--actually, more like I just don't remember if either of the twins is eligible for smartification. They do have 3 "overachieving" grandparents (sorry Lana) so it's not that far-fetched. I don't think they can scrape together a neat point between them but with their nearly full active bars, if they're sufficiently serious to satisfy the formula things just might take a turn.

I'm eager, and a little worried, to see what they'll look like. More worried for how much of Junior might show up in their brother/uncle. So far my game has been unexpectedly cooperative. I didn't have any real caveats for whatever Una ended up looking like, except I want to keep the supernatural element negligible so, unlike most simmers, I did not want her to inherit Penny's elf ears. And I've had a peek at Proxy now, which was a surprise but not, on the whole, an unpleasant one. I haven't even properly wrapped up Round 2 yet so I'll leave it a that.

I still won't be back in front of my simming computer for a few days yet so I've just been mulling in my spare time but the real issue is whether I want to detour into "big drama" territory, as opposed to the (mostly) little dramas impacting big-ly on the lives of these individuals, and then commit to sustaining the storyline. Decisions, decisions. Anyway, it won't come up until the Hart round.

Val hasn't worked himself up too much about the twins or he'd never be able to let it alone. Stealthily bonding with a grandkid would be something my Val would do, too, but if he absoutely decided the twins were his, he actually would risk disrupting their lives (for the better, he'd assume, and figure they're too young to notice) and force a confrontation. And then possibly regret it soon after depending on how Mary responded. Seeing as he still doens't want to be married, I think they're all better off with him in a state of doubt.

Valentine revealing the secret she's done so much silent suffering to keep might be enough to get Mary over him once and for all! It's hard to think of a situation in which she would respond positively to that - maybe if her home situation had deteriorated far enough to be abusive (Lana is certainly capable, and that'd be a make-or-break point for Junior - if he doesn't stand up to his mother effectively then, he never will) and the revelation opened a way out where she couldn't see one before. He wouldn't sue for full custody, would he? Because Mary is a unit with those babies and the whole town (the portions of it that care) would back her on that. Even Daytona - Mary's her best friend's daughter, after all. And for her children to be his, he would have had to knock her up at the same time he and Daytona were getting along so well in spite of the Rhett situation. I doubt she'd take kindly to knowing that, but especially not if everyone in town knows it.

As for Rich interfering with the twins - by far the most natural time for him to notice them and find them acceptable would be once they were out and about in the neighborhood as children. If Candy doesn't have another son and Richie doesn't win him over by the time Avery and Annie are in school, then he might find himself intrigued if he sees them out and about, running rings around people and displaying signs of enterprise and intelligence. Too strong a display of nice points would be a turn-off, though! Even if you could consistently post twice a month (which Life isn't likely to let you do) it'll take awhile to get to that point.

Your game, your muse; but it seems to me that Big Drama tends to flounder under its own weight. The medium is keyed to lots of small-scale soap opera rather than to long over-arching plots. The sims themselves have short attention spans, and where they'll gleefully kick over apple carts and follow momentary impulses into behavior that has long-term ripple effects all over the neighborhood, people who try to get them to carry long arcs to conclusions wind up spending more time posing than playing, lose their momentum, and the next thing you know it's seven years between updates. In a BACC setup, and particularly in a neighborhood like this where nobody can move without getting tangled in somebody else's web of relationships, there's something unnatural about having one dominant storyline. But you know your muse and capabilities best, and I'm here looking over your shoulder whatever you try to do.

Can't say that I conceive of any of this in terms of my capabilities. It's a bit of fun for me, not a writing exercise or a storytelling apprenticeship, although I can see the allure for those who write up their scenes first and then turn to this handy visual medium to act them out and tweak what does and doesn't work that way. That's just not the way I play, and since my priority is my amusement and my amusement has lately become a somewhat bigger priority for me that's not likely to change. In any case, I didn't mean one dominant storyline but rather one with implications for the world outside Widespot as well. And that I would eventually have to resolve. Of course, I'm not averse to pulling rank on my sims and deus ex machina is a pretty standard soap trope so I'll probably go ahead and seed a scene or two and whatever will be will be.

Within reason, it'll still have to make sense to me. So while Valentine would never sue for full custody, he wouldn't do that to Mary, he would charge ahead and trample over her feelings if he assumed the outcome would be for the best. And if he's going to acknowledge these kids and raise them, she'd be part of that deal in his mind, no further obstacles to resuming their relationship even if the new terms were negotiable. I'm afraid Val wouldn't even consider her husband as competition for her affections if he threw his hat into that ring. But he'd probably be surprised to find that she honestly values the stability of monogamy and marriage as the foundation for the kind of family life she's idealised over passion. Especially when so much of it was surely the thrill of the illicit. If Valentine were to declare himself as a "suitor" in front of everybody (and be accepted as such by her family) it is just possible that he might not remain quite as attractive to Mary.

But to actually go forward and blow the lid and be wrong, since the twins are Junior's...what a mess that would be!

It's a mixed blessing, but it sounds like it's a good thing Val's got so much to distract him from brooding over paternity questions with Mary's twins! However he went about trying to take responsibility for them, Mary'd be certain to wrongfoot him again.

Which I suspect is a good part of her appeal for him. On the face of it, a shy, starstruck, small-town girl doesn't look like a challenge, but she's so different from the women he met in his former life, she keeps throwing his reflexes off. It's probably been a long time since someone surprised him so much and so often; and the fact that some of the surprises are unpleasant, and touch him on his conscience (or is it his ego doing double-duty as a conscience?), just sucks him in deeper. Gotta get this right, dammit - she's supposed to smile.

There's some parallels there with Rhett's inability to let Penny go, too. He's more like his father than either of them think, and it goes deeper than the nose and the troutpout.

I am in favor of your prioritizing your amusement, since it contributes to mine. I eagerly await news of the Beeches.

Okay, so it's been almost two months instead of the one but, well, the best laid plans and all that. I've got a severe case of simming withdrawal but I'm about to hustle like a madwoman to try and get this next part up before the weekend is out because if I don't it is all too plausible that it might not see the light of day until after the holidays! (Not the Beeches, by the way, not yet, I'm still lagging behind the round 2 wrap-up.) And that would honestly suck since now that I've been back "in" it, sorting pics, I'm really eager to share. And curious to see what the response might be (apart from WTF). Not so much amusement for the next update but I'm very much invested in the story so I hope that translates.

Not a single Valentine sighting either. Madness, I say, but that will definitely be remedied come Beech time.

I loved this update, but that's not surprising as I love all your updates. I'm loving Penny's no-nonsense attitude, no rolling over for her. I like her and Hamilton together, it seems like it could work, although I guess there's always the possibility for heart ache in those situations.

Happy birthday Una!

:-D With Penny and Rhett I didn't imagine anyone would think she was too hard on him, Rhett's wrongs tend to be right out there in the open, smirking at you, but I was curious to see if sympathy for Sandy would colour how Penny came across in this one. The fact that, on top of everything else, Sandy also finagled her way into playing house with Rhett (as Penny sees it), with their daughter, when he wouldn't even bother to come see hers meant there was no way she was going to let that pass even though she said she didn't want to talk about it.

Since Sandy didn't actually want to lose her husband, if Penny were to end up with him on a more permanent, less casual basis I'd predict much inward seething and gnashing of teeth behind a mask of studied nonchalance.

Should be very interesting to see how the rift in the mothers' friendship impacts on the development of Una and Proxy's relationship!

been busy with uni stuff too read and comment regularly,but im glad your still writing and as always your updates are SO unique and interesting,so many things to say,Woody,Babies,reveals,servos!!! Aaaah! i love it!!

Updates take longer to get to lately but my little soap saga is still very much in progress! Glad you found some extra time to pop by, there's been a lot going on, well, there's always a lot going on in Widespot! And Woody as a kind of horny Gepetto (of Pinocchio fame)? Could not resist :-D

I didn’t expect Skye to react that way about Woody’s project, but I guess I should have – everything about this family is unconventional. I wondered for a while if something was starting between Woody and River, but reading your end comment, it won’t. I was worried for a while there that River would get hurt, but he seems to be just fine about Woody not being into guys at all and Woody seems to feel the same way about River being into guys, so I hope it will stay that way. And of course River went along and made Woody’s bed. :D He’s a compulsive neat freak.
I must say that it seems that Rhett really is trying to be dad, didn’t really expect that either, but then again Penny’s description of him when she was talking to Sandy kind of nailed his personality: young and dumb – it had me laughing out loud. But then next thing I knew I was gasping over Una’s looks, when she grew up to a toddler. Those looks I really should have expected – both her parents have …um… distincitive features, it’s just that babies have these super cute rounded faces and her new face really was a huge change. Distinctive feature compressed into toddler faces always look a bit strange. I think she will look very interesting as a grown-up.
Where is this thing between Penny and Hamilton going? I didn’t see that coming before it happened, but I kind of like them together.

Woody didn't expect that reaction from his dad either! I'm sure there are plenty of days that he wishes he had a proper door to his room, a lockable door, so people wouldn't be able to traipse through at will, River included. But for Skye's part, he has no notion that he may have just helped turn Woody's passive sex doll into an active sex robot! Of course, we'll see if it was really that easy.

Something has indeed started between Woody and River though, but what that may be is hardly straightforward. They surely don't know. Well, at least, Woody doesn't. Right now River is the one getting what he wants, despite Woody's honest confession that he doesn't think he's gay (or bi for that matter) and he did wonder after River first kised him. This is the relationship I mentioned to you, oh, now months and months ago. In sim land, and particularly as a romance sim, Woody's life would actually be so much easier if he were bisexual. Can't have that! Not yet anyway. So, despite normal sim mehanics, this experimental phase will not reorient his sexual preference. It's not a romance, it's a secret (River hasn't come out yet), but whether these two teens can mange to keep touching and feeling separate remains to be seen.

I actually think Penny and Hamilton have a better chance of negotiating a casual dalliance with no (or minimal) hurt feelings. Then again, their rel scores are so high that even if they stick to ACR actions, some deeper feelings for one or both of them are likely to trigger if they keep at it.

Oh, and River is neat but lazy which is hilarious. He can't imagine why anyone would leave a bed in that state when all you have to do is throw the covers up and done! And I'm probably biased because I love Una so but I do think Candy may lose that bet about whose kid'll be funnier looking :-)