We're finally on Round 2, where we return to our first family, the Ashes. I started their round on January 16th and finished on January 19th, but I haven't gotten around to posting it... that is, until now.
Looks like Shadrya's 2nd pregnancy is coming to an end.
Shadrya: Can't wait to find out whether I'm having twins or a single baby!
For her (and my) sanity, I hope she's only having one baby this time; the Ashes already have a set of twins, and they have been pretty vocal about being fed, pampered, and changed. :(
Shadrya and Sanima become best friends; by now, both parents are best friends with both of their twin toddlers.
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Zor cuddles with the family canine, Olive.
Olive quietly puts up with his somewhat suffocating advances.
Zanzibar picks the harvest. The day is beautiful, so he doesn't mind shouldering most of the work that day.
While picking the ripened tomatoes, Zanzibar excitedly daydreams about his unborn child(ren).
Zanzibar: I hope it looks like me! :D
Poor Olive; she's being manhandled by a mere toddler.
As Courage the Cowardly Dog says, "The things I do for love." XD
Planting sure is hard work; Zanzibar prepares his tiny plot of land for the new crop.
I like how Zor's been strangling snuggling with Olive for the past 5 RL minutes. XD
After laying down the seeds for his new cucumber crop, Zanzibar takes a break and plays with his cherubic little boy.
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I smell a family moment! :3
Shadrya teaches Zanzibar to talk. For now, the family seems to be doing pretty well.
All in all, a perfect day.
... Or not. Shadrya wets herself, Olive expresses her hunger through a painful whimper, and Zor threatens to harass Olive yet again. Could things get any worse?!
Only time will tell...
In a thoroughly neglected state, Olive whimpers from starvation. Zanzibar cleans up his wife's mess while Shadrya tries to get a grip and get a good night's sleep.
Zanzibar continues Zor's speech education. By the end of this round, Zor learns how to speak.
Sanima sleeps quietly in her little crib.
Zanzibar: *groggily* OMIGOSH, SHUT UP.
Of course, Sanima just has to get up and start screaming out her lungs just as Zanzibar slips into bed.
Great timing there, Sanima. *sarcasm, sarcasm*
Meanwhile, Sanima's evil twin, Zor, starts playing in the trash that was left behind by some mongrel mutt. Looks like no one remembered to put him to bed. Oops.
I really hate it when toddlers wail their heads off.
If there's one thing the Sims 2 has taught me, it's that babies are just plain evil. In RL, I'm never going to be able to handle more than one kid... so if I have twins, I'm screwed.
The parents of said wailer grudgingly get out of their lovely, warm bed and force themselves to tend to their demon offspring.
Zanzibar finally puts his adventurous little tyke to sleep. This picture is rather cute, hmm? :)
Seems as though Shadrya could use some beddy-bye time herself.
Seems as though Shadrya could use some beddy-bye time herself.
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Newsflash!!!
Zanzibar, while trying to throw away some trash, sets the already overworked trash disposal/ stove on fire! Will they survive?! >:D
In an effort to save their young ones from the dangerously voracious flames, Zanzibar and Shadrya try to retrieve their young offspring from the wildly burning cave.
Great timing, Shadrya. Shadrya, of all times, decides that NOW is a great time to give birth. In the middle of a fire. That could easily kill them all.
Wow. Isn't that fantastic? Giving birth during a killer fire, I mean.
Bursting into action, Zanzibar bravely ignores his wife's bloodcurdling screams and saves his daughter from the fire.
With incredible valor, Zanzibar turns into a prehistoric fireman and tries to put out the flames.
You must admit, that picture is pretty heroic. :3
Notice that his efforts to save Sanima were in vain; she decides to crawl back indoors anyway.
All this while, Shadrya labored alone, giving birth to a baby boy named Zur-En-Arrh (red hair, light blue eyes, skin 1).
His name is a tribute to Batman, one of my favorite superheroes. Zur-En-Arrh means "Zorro in Arkham", and if you know the Batman universe, you'll know that this has significant meaning to him.
Oh, golly gee gosh! Looks like Sanima is having twins!
I've never had two sets of twins in a row before (naturally conceived twins, no less), so I think this will be one heck of a round.
Zur-En-Arrh's twin sister looks exactly like him. To go with the Batman tribute naming scheme, I named her Selihoh (red hair, light blue eyes, skin 1). Her name is a more prehistoric version of Selina Kyle, a.k.a. Catwoman.
Looks like Zanzibar got his wish; both of his newborn twins have his coloring.
Zanzibar finishes extinguishing the flames with what he calls his "flame-putter-outer".
Zanzibar: That'll show them!
This is the new bedding set-up; if you haven't noticed by now (and you probably haven't), I trade in beds/ hammocks for cribs so that I don't violate the 5 bed limit.
Right now, there are 4 babies and 2 adults, so I decided to sacrifice the double bed for the sake of the children. Only 1 of the parents can sleep comfortably at any given time, so I'll let them switch off and take turns.
Looks like Shadrya wants the 1st turn.
For the 2nd time that night, Zanzibar puts Zor back to bed.
The twins settle down in their new cribs. Hopefully the family can settle down for the rest of the night... I mean, seriously, a fire, a birth, and 2 sets of twins?! It's ridiculous!
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Newsflash!!!
Zanzibar, while trying to throw away some trash, sets the already overworked trash disposal/ stove on fire! Will they survive?! >:D
In an effort to save their young ones from the dangerously voracious flames, Zanzibar and Shadrya try to retrieve their young offspring from the wildly burning cave.
Great timing, Shadrya. Shadrya, of all times, decides that NOW is a great time to give birth. In the middle of a fire. That could easily kill them all.
Wow. Isn't that fantastic? Giving birth during a killer fire, I mean.
Bursting into action, Zanzibar bravely ignores his wife's bloodcurdling screams and saves his daughter from the fire.
With incredible valor, Zanzibar turns into a prehistoric fireman and tries to put out the flames.
You must admit, that picture is pretty heroic. :3
Notice that his efforts to save Sanima were in vain; she decides to crawl back indoors anyway.
All this while, Shadrya labored alone, giving birth to a baby boy named Zur-En-Arrh (red hair, light blue eyes, skin 1).
His name is a tribute to Batman, one of my favorite superheroes. Zur-En-Arrh means "Zorro in Arkham", and if you know the Batman universe, you'll know that this has significant meaning to him.
Oh, golly gee gosh! Looks like Sanima is having twins!
I've never had two sets of twins in a row before (naturally conceived twins, no less), so I think this will be one heck of a round.
Zur-En-Arrh's twin sister looks exactly like him. To go with the Batman tribute naming scheme, I named her Selihoh (red hair, light blue eyes, skin 1). Her name is a more prehistoric version of Selina Kyle, a.k.a. Catwoman.
Looks like Zanzibar got his wish; both of his newborn twins have his coloring.
Zanzibar finishes extinguishing the flames with what he calls his "flame-putter-outer".
Zanzibar: That'll show them!
This is the new bedding set-up; if you haven't noticed by now (and you probably haven't), I trade in beds/ hammocks for cribs so that I don't violate the 5 bed limit.
Right now, there are 4 babies and 2 adults, so I decided to sacrifice the double bed for the sake of the children. Only 1 of the parents can sleep comfortably at any given time, so I'll let them switch off and take turns.
Looks like Shadrya wants the 1st turn.
For the 2nd time that night, Zanzibar puts Zor back to bed.
The twins settle down in their new cribs. Hopefully the family can settle down for the rest of the night... I mean, seriously, a fire, a birth, and 2 sets of twins?! It's ridiculous!
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Sorry I took so long to update; it's been a hectic week for me in RL. :P
Now, back to the Ashes, Round 2!
Well, lookie here! I guess Shadrya decided to start the morning off with a nice, big bonfire. Again. O.o
This has got to stop. Seriously.
While Shadrya frantically panics over the stove/ trash disposal, Zanzibar comes to the rescue again and races to move all of his sleepy, cranky children outside to safety.
Getting over her anxiety, Shadrya tries to extinguish the fire with Zanzibar's handy-dandy "flame-putter-outer".
Unfortunately, Shadrya loses the drive and starts panicking again, forcing Zanzibar to take over.
Zanzibar: I'm a pro. 8D
Zanzibar: Ugh. I really need a mammoth shower.
As soon as they're back in their cozy cribs, the terrible toddlers start bawling again. The cycle of stress continues.
Shadrya takes a rest outside. The toddlers and babies combined were too much for the parents, so I switched the only bed they had with a nice, quiet hammock in the great outdoors.
Shadrya: *sighs* Peace at last...
Meanwhile, Zanzibar does his best to take care of his very
You can imagine how stressed he is now, having to juggle 4 young children by himself.
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OMLGSJDKLJGLSDKJKLJDFLSDP"FK:SDL. This has GOT TO STOP!!!!!!! What the heck?! This is the frickin' 3rd fire they've had in 2 days!!!! D:
I can't believe how frickin' STUPID and UNLUCKY they are.
Maybe I should just let their house burn down next time. It would serve them right.
Zanzibar: Whew. Thanks to my flame-putter-outer, nothing went wrong.
Zanzibar: I sure am pooped, though. :(
Time for some R&R, Zanzibar.
After putting out 3 fires in 2 days, he surely must be at the end of his rope.
Shadrya's still lethargic, too. Maybe I should install a second bed...
Nah. The toddlers and tykes need it more. :3
Zanzibar remembers to feed Sanima... but only when she reminds him. At this point, the children aren't getting much individual attention from their overworked parents.
For some reason, both Zanzibar and Shadrya are lecturing their sleeping infant for being stinky.
The world of sims, that I fail to understand... XD
While Zanzibar gives the family canine some rare attention for once, the other inhabitants of the household vie for Shadrya's love and care.
If you look out of one their windows, you can see that Zor is desperately sleep-deprived.
Yet again, to be continued... (man, this uploading business takes 10 years)
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Sorry that I've been on hiatus for about 2 weeks; I've been making transitions in RL (namely, the new school quarter)...
Let's hope I can finish updating this time around.
We continue this challenge of pain to reveal more shocking photos of the struggling house of Ash.
Poor tots; the eldest twins never get enough attention.
Parenting seems to be extremely hard this time around...
I must reiterate that the Stone Ages sure sucked.
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Poor Sanima, she's complaining about nearly every motive out there. I'd be surprised if she can grow up well at this rate.
Notice that Mommy-kins is basking outside in the great outdoors. If you ask me, that's not very good parenting...
Shadrya: WE DIDN'T ASK YOU!!!! Now, go away. DX<
Sheesh, you're so uptight.
Olive is fun deprived. :(
With all of those kids to take care of, her owners spare little energy or time for their poor little canine pal.
Speak of the devil! Zanzibar actually takes notice of his doggy friend for once. That's probably just because she's starving, though... Maybe I should invest in a food bowl (even though pets were not addressed in the challenge rules).
Meanwhile, Shadrya actually does her duties for once and takes care of the fishing. So far, Shadrya has no badges, so she better hurry up.
On the other hand, Zanzibar already has bronze badges in fishing and gardening from Round 1. Woot! :)
Shadrya finally earns her 1st gardening badge after a brief amount of toil in the garden.
Zanzibar finally pays a bit of attention to Sanima's dwindling motives and puts her to bed.
After a long, hard day of parenting, gardening, and fishing, Zanzibar looks forward to a good rest and some grub.
Perhaps the 1st housewife of the Neanderthal era, Shadrya sets a precedent of women being bound to the kitchen (curse that stereotype!) by preparing her hubby a meal.
In a show of the ultimate appreciation, Zanzibar immediately nods off to sleep and ruins Shadrya's painstakingly cooked meal. Shadrya looks none too happy about his behavior; look at that glare!
Seems like you won't be getting some tonight, my dear Zanzibar.
Aw, look at how cute they are. Shadrya attempts to teach little Zor the rudiments of motor skills.
I can't remember if they succeeded or not, but I suppose it doesn't matter; after all, I have to get through 18 MORE GENERATIONS of toddlers before this challenge is over. O.o
Oh, great. A skunk just skunked Olive. As if they didn't have enough to worry about already... maybe I should get a standard bathtub and trade in the Mammoth Shower... I feel really guilty about neglecting Olive, but the Ashes have enough to do as it is.
Hopefully Olive can hold on just a bit longer until the eldest twins grow up.
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Oh, great x2.
This is the 4th fire they've had this challenge. I feel like it's become old news by now.
Shadrya doesn't even look surprised at this point.
Putting out a fire like it's a mundane task in life, that's the Ashes for you.
Meanwhile, Arok waddles by; he's a little pudgy around the waist right now. Must've been all of that bass.
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I traded in a crib for a bed; I feel like a single hammock for 2 overworked parents is a really bad idea. 20-20 hindsight vision and all.
See what I mean?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This has really got to stop... The 5th fire in fewer than 3 days. Seriously?!
A real pro by now, Zanzibar takes care of the fire in a mere moment.
The squalor of their "home" (if you can even call it that) is worse than that of a pigsty.
I mean, look at it.
Unwashed plates everywhere, spoiled milk, stinky babies, unruly toddlers, puddles upon puddles of blue pee, holes in the ground, etc.
In spite of their constant smelliness, the Ashes still love each other very much.
Shadrya gives her daughter some much needed attention.
Just in time, too! Sanima grows up into a strange-looking kid with a crinkled forehead (jk).
Since Sanima's the older twin, I'm quite pleased that she grew up first. She's the first child as well as the firstborn in the Neanderthal Era. :3
Surprisingly, Sanima grows up well. Ironically, her motives are still dangerously low.
I'm just glad that kids don't have an Environment motive; otherwise, she would be near dead by now. XD
Zanzibar gives his son the same treatment Shadrya just gave Sanima; maybe this can become a family tradition? :P
Zor grows up well, too. He looks like a chipper little woodchuck, smiling like that. :)
Try to ignore that ominously fuming green cloud behind him... it's his birthday, after all. :3
Of course, Zanzibar just has to stink up the entire thing and walks in with his horrible stench cloud. Zor doesn't seem too pleased.
In celebration of his growth spurt, Zor wolfs down his first taste of real food. :D
You can't see it, but he's now changed into a more appropriately barbaric rag of a pelt, an off-shoulder, leopard design. It looks like Zanzibar's clothing, only with a different pattern.
Even though Zor's not blond, I'm beginning to think of him as my little dutch boy (ah, stereotypes). :3
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Zanzibar and Zur-En-Arrh become best friends soon after Zanzibar changes his son's nth diaper.
I like how he just left the baby on the cold, stone floor like that. :(
Bottle feeding: 1 of the staple joys in parenthood.
Here's a close-up of Sanima as a child.
I updated her wardrobe and changed her into the proper attire suitable for a cave-girl.
Sanima, a good and dutiful child, helps her parents out with the gardening.
Like his new garb? Zor seems quite pleased, too.
That hairstyle just screams "little dutch boy".
IMPORTANT DISCOVERY:
I think I just found out that I created Shadrya with dark blue eyes; Zor seems to have dark blue eyes, but I originally wrote that Shadrya and her children have light blue eyes... I guess I forgot which eye color I chose for Shadrya when I first made her. Oops? :(
I won't go back to every single post and correct my mistakes; instead, I'll just notify all of my readers that Shadrya, Sanima, Zor, Zur-En-Arrh, and Selihoh ALL have dark blue eyes. No wonder Zanzibar never passed on his phenotype of green eyes; it's because he couldn't.
Sorry for the inconvenience to my readers... I wish I had SimPE so that I could've safeguarded against such a mistake, but SimPE always crashed for me. I'm not sure why, though. :/
Now, back to the story itself.
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Like his sister, Zor also helps out around the garden.
Now that their older set of twins is grown, Shadrya and Zanzibar both want to conceive a new baby. However, Zanzibar also fears a baby, contradicting himself...
Sanima: Ugh. What type of messed up fish is this!? *disgusted*
As I've said before, boots didn't even exist back then... XD
Let's add some more pee to our collection of pee puddles!
Zanzibar: Okay! :D *pees dramatically, then gets all embarrassed* Um... I'll hide underneath this convenient table now. *cowers in flustered sadness*
DX This is one of the many numskull ancestors who will eventually give rise to present-day "civilized" sims. I just don't buy that.
Zanzibar makes a comeback from his infamous "peeing episode" by making nice with his youngest child, Selihoh.
Shadrya, on the other hand, hasn't become best pals with either Zur-En-Arrh or Selihoh yet.
Zur-En-Arrh grows into an impossibly CUTE toddler. :D
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For the first time in their young lives, Sanima and Zor interact. In spite of being boy and girl, blond and ginger, the fraternal twins strike it right and start off on the right foot.
Big Sister Sanima: *chatting excitedly*... and then we can get off of this tiny lot and see the world!
Little Brother Zor: Yeah, yeah! *eats her words eagerly*
Meanwhile, Selihoh grows up into a weirdly modern, pink tuxedo. Not the greatest look, but at least she's smiling.
Shadrya tries to teach her daughter how to talk, but she's not buying that.
Uh, I take that back. Shadrya works quickly and teaches Selihoh how to talk in no time at all.
All of that talking must have woken up little Zur-En-Arrh, though.
Poor Olive.
She's so hungry that she's resorted to licking dirty pee puddles left behind by her master. I really should get her a food bowl... :(
Finally remembering his unfortunate pet, Zanzibar digs up a chewing bone for Olive to gnaw on. At least that will occupy her Chew motive.
Olive looks relatively happy to be chomping away on that bone.
Oh! Looks like Sanima wants to play with little Zur-En-Arrh for the first time ever. :D
Well, I guess not... Evil older sisters, they're so mean. DX<
Zur-En-Arrh looks put out. :(
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Zanzibar takes his kids fishing. This is the first time they've fished together, but they seem to getting along rather nicely.
What's this?! It looks like a trans-dimensional loophole in the black hole of the Simverse has opened up spontaneously, creating a time warp that has allowed this gelatinous, blue monster from the mysterious yet formidable race of "police" to travel back in time, along with its garish space pod known as a "police car".
Far-fetched, I know, but true.
It looks like it's sending out mysterious signals... but what for?
Oh, no. Apparently the "police" wants to abduct poor little Olive. Initially, Olive looks forlorn and hesitant to go... however, also notice that all of her human friends are busy and are, once again, excluding her from their activities.
Olive: *whimpers in self-pity* No one really cares about me... I might as well comply to this horribly gruesome stranger's demands. It sure as heck would beat this tar pit of a home.
Olive: I'll think of this as an adventure! Who knows, maybe I'll find a new friend where I'm headed... a friend who'll actually take care of me, that is... *hops into the space unit*
One last look at Olive.
She looks rather happy to be leaving, albeit with the overly aggressive and none-too attractive (well, according to Neanderthal standards, anyway) blue space demon.
You know, I really should've bought her a food bowl (even though that's against the item rule). I guess I'll have to make sure to include that as a new rule for my next round. :(
You live and you learn... that's all we can do.
Zanzibar sobs over the cruelty (ironic) of the police for stealing his one and only canine friend. As far as he knows (or realizes- I bet he doesn't even know that Olive was starving to death), though, the motives of this strange apparition are ambiguous yet malevolent in nature.
This episode has saddened me, too... Actually, I feel more sad about Olive right now than I did when I was actually playing the game. I guess writing it out in words really wrings me inside. :/
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Sims move on fast, though.
Zanzibar pushes away his heartfelt sadness and embraces his wife in the Spinning Cocoon of Love. <3
The heat of lust and the heat of the day just gave birth to a heck of a heatstroke.
Zanzibar's already passed out. Weakling.
Shadrya tries to revive her weakling husband with a cold glass of water. Like a slap in the face.
Shadrya complains about being hungry. Yippee.
At least Zanzibar finally gets out of his heat-induced coma.
Sanima finally catches her first fish!
Lol, look at the snowman next door. Definitely out of season... but if you can recall, you'll remember that the Bals used the Weather Machine (I know, that was cheating) to bring about a major blizzard.
Zanzibar takes a turn in the kitchen and preps a bass for cooking.
Cooking, cooking, cooking...
Zanzibar looks rather bored. TOO BAD.
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Shadrya finally manages to become best friends with Zur-En-Arrh. At this point, the only child she hasn't become best friends with yet is her youngest daughter, Selihoh.
CREEPY STALKER PEDOPHILE!!!! SANIMA, RUN WHILE YOU STILL CAN!!!!!!!!!!
PEDOBEAR ALERT!!!!!! Ew. D:
Clearly, the townie men are trying to prey on the innocent Neanderthal girls of my challenge. I'm NOT allowing that, oh no. >:(
While Sanima bravely tries to ignore the pedophile townie, the rest of the Ashes gather around the dinner rock (dinner table) for a nice meal of bass.
Shadrya: I wish we could float around on the water! That way, we can finally cool off from all of this horrendous heat.
Point made. Shadrya reiterates her aversion to heat by promptly flopping onto the floor and imitating a truly dead possum.
I've installed 3 hammocks so that at least 3 older members of the household can get some rest- 2 of the beds are still cribs. Obviously, the cribs are reserved for the young toddlers.
Le Gasp! Why, it's Ipshad, dour as ever. For this impossibly long round, the Ashes have been way too busy to keep up a social life. After they lost Olive, however, the Ashes finally started caring more about saving their decaying relationships.
The Ashes regain Haaru as a friend via SimStone phone, and they invite Ipshad over for a spell.
Ipshad is holding Selihoh; I guess he was drawn to her red hair. ;)
With a little prodding from Mother Gossip, Ipshad and Zanzibar tumble over the threshold and become best friends. My parent sims always seem to want to gossip about their children.
Shadrya is suffering from both a bad case of sunburn and bladder desperation. She's probably exhausted, too.
Zanzibar is already asleep. :P
Apparently the hammock wasn't comfortable enough, so Zanzibar gets up and plants his face in one of those convenient head rests called "plates".
Well, don't they look like doppelgangers? Blondes, sunburned, sleeping, white hammocks, animal-themed pelts... ;)
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Anything wrong with this picture? XD
That was a majorly creepy glitch... at least she's back to normal. The Sims 2 never ceases to amaze me in the multitude of bugs it constantly throws at me.
With that final picture, I bid the Ashes adieu for the next several rounds. Whew! It took me almost an entire month to finish posting this round up. Hopefully I didn't take as many pictures for the Bals; I'm already half-done playing the Bals, but I have yet to post about them.
Until then, ciao!
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Sorry that I've been on hiatus for about 2 weeks; I've been making transitions in RL (namely, the new school quarter)...
Let's hope I can finish updating this time around.
We continue this challenge of pain to reveal more shocking photos of the struggling house of Ash.
Poor tots; the eldest twins never get enough attention.
Parenting seems to be extremely hard this time around...
I must reiterate that the Stone Ages sure sucked.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Poor Sanima, she's complaining about nearly every motive out there. I'd be surprised if she can grow up well at this rate.
Notice that Mommy-kins is basking outside in the great outdoors. If you ask me, that's not very good parenting...
Shadrya: WE DIDN'T ASK YOU!!!! Now, go away. DX<
Sheesh, you're so uptight.
Olive is fun deprived. :(
With all of those kids to take care of, her owners spare little energy or time for their poor little canine pal.
Speak of the devil! Zanzibar actually takes notice of his doggy friend for once. That's probably just because she's starving, though... Maybe I should invest in a food bowl (even though pets were not addressed in the challenge rules).
Meanwhile, Shadrya actually does her duties for once and takes care of the fishing. So far, Shadrya has no badges, so she better hurry up.
On the other hand, Zanzibar already has bronze badges in fishing and gardening from Round 1. Woot! :)
Shadrya finally earns her 1st gardening badge after a brief amount of toil in the garden.
Zanzibar finally pays a bit of attention to Sanima's dwindling motives and puts her to bed.
After a long, hard day of parenting, gardening, and fishing, Zanzibar looks forward to a good rest and some grub.
Perhaps the 1st housewife of the Neanderthal era, Shadrya sets a precedent of women being bound to the kitchen (curse that stereotype!) by preparing her hubby a meal.
In a show of the ultimate appreciation, Zanzibar immediately nods off to sleep and ruins Shadrya's painstakingly cooked meal. Shadrya looks none too happy about his behavior; look at that glare!
Seems like you won't be getting some tonight, my dear Zanzibar.
Aw, look at how cute they are. Shadrya attempts to teach little Zor the rudiments of motor skills.
I can't remember if they succeeded or not, but I suppose it doesn't matter; after all, I have to get through 18 MORE GENERATIONS of toddlers before this challenge is over. O.o
Oh, great. A skunk just skunked Olive. As if they didn't have enough to worry about already... maybe I should get a standard bathtub and trade in the Mammoth Shower... I feel really guilty about neglecting Olive, but the Ashes have enough to do as it is.
Hopefully Olive can hold on just a bit longer until the eldest twins grow up.
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Oh, great x2.
This is the 4th fire they've had this challenge. I feel like it's become old news by now.
Shadrya doesn't even look surprised at this point.
Putting out a fire like it's a mundane task in life, that's the Ashes for you.
Meanwhile, Arok waddles by; he's a little pudgy around the waist right now. Must've been all of that bass.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I traded in a crib for a bed; I feel like a single hammock for 2 overworked parents is a really bad idea. 20-20 hindsight vision and all.
See what I mean?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This has really got to stop... The 5th fire in fewer than 3 days. Seriously?!
A real pro by now, Zanzibar takes care of the fire in a mere moment.
The squalor of their "home" (if you can even call it that) is worse than that of a pigsty.
I mean, look at it.
Unwashed plates everywhere, spoiled milk, stinky babies, unruly toddlers, puddles upon puddles of blue pee, holes in the ground, etc.
In spite of their constant smelliness, the Ashes still love each other very much.
Shadrya gives her daughter some much needed attention.
Just in time, too! Sanima grows up into a strange-looking kid with a crinkled forehead (jk).
Since Sanima's the older twin, I'm quite pleased that she grew up first. She's the first child as well as the firstborn in the Neanderthal Era. :3
Surprisingly, Sanima grows up well. Ironically, her motives are still dangerously low.
I'm just glad that kids don't have an Environment motive; otherwise, she would be near dead by now. XD
Zanzibar gives his son the same treatment Shadrya just gave Sanima; maybe this can become a family tradition? :P
Zor grows up well, too. He looks like a chipper little woodchuck, smiling like that. :)
Try to ignore that ominously fuming green cloud behind him... it's his birthday, after all. :3
Of course, Zanzibar just has to stink up the entire thing and walks in with his horrible stench cloud. Zor doesn't seem too pleased.
In celebration of his growth spurt, Zor wolfs down his first taste of real food. :D
You can't see it, but he's now changed into a more appropriately barbaric rag of a pelt, an off-shoulder, leopard design. It looks like Zanzibar's clothing, only with a different pattern.
Even though Zor's not blond, I'm beginning to think of him as my little dutch boy (ah, stereotypes). :3
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Zanzibar and Zur-En-Arrh become best friends soon after Zanzibar changes his son's nth diaper.
I like how he just left the baby on the cold, stone floor like that. :(
Bottle feeding: 1 of the staple joys in parenthood.
Here's a close-up of Sanima as a child.
I updated her wardrobe and changed her into the proper attire suitable for a cave-girl.
Sanima, a good and dutiful child, helps her parents out with the gardening.
Like his new garb? Zor seems quite pleased, too.
That hairstyle just screams "little dutch boy".
IMPORTANT DISCOVERY:
I think I just found out that I created Shadrya with dark blue eyes; Zor seems to have dark blue eyes, but I originally wrote that Shadrya and her children have light blue eyes... I guess I forgot which eye color I chose for Shadrya when I first made her. Oops? :(
I won't go back to every single post and correct my mistakes; instead, I'll just notify all of my readers that Shadrya, Sanima, Zor, Zur-En-Arrh, and Selihoh ALL have dark blue eyes. No wonder Zanzibar never passed on his phenotype of green eyes; it's because he couldn't.
Sorry for the inconvenience to my readers... I wish I had SimPE so that I could've safeguarded against such a mistake, but SimPE always crashed for me. I'm not sure why, though. :/
Now, back to the story itself.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Like his sister, Zor also helps out around the garden.
Now that their older set of twins is grown, Shadrya and Zanzibar both want to conceive a new baby. However, Zanzibar also fears a baby, contradicting himself...
Sanima: Ugh. What type of messed up fish is this!? *disgusted*
As I've said before, boots didn't even exist back then... XD
Let's add some more pee to our collection of pee puddles!
Zanzibar: Okay! :D *pees dramatically, then gets all embarrassed* Um... I'll hide underneath this convenient table now. *cowers in flustered sadness*
DX This is one of the many numskull ancestors who will eventually give rise to present-day "civilized" sims. I just don't buy that.
Zanzibar makes a comeback from his infamous "peeing episode" by making nice with his youngest child, Selihoh.
Shadrya, on the other hand, hasn't become best pals with either Zur-En-Arrh or Selihoh yet.
Zur-En-Arrh grows into an impossibly CUTE toddler. :D
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For the first time in their young lives, Sanima and Zor interact. In spite of being boy and girl, blond and ginger, the fraternal twins strike it right and start off on the right foot.
Big Sister Sanima: *chatting excitedly*... and then we can get off of this tiny lot and see the world!
Little Brother Zor: Yeah, yeah! *eats her words eagerly*
Meanwhile, Selihoh grows up into a weirdly modern, pink tuxedo. Not the greatest look, but at least she's smiling.
Shadrya tries to teach her daughter how to talk, but she's not buying that.
Uh, I take that back. Shadrya works quickly and teaches Selihoh how to talk in no time at all.
All of that talking must have woken up little Zur-En-Arrh, though.
Poor Olive.
She's so hungry that she's resorted to licking dirty pee puddles left behind by her master. I really should get her a food bowl... :(
Finally remembering his unfortunate pet, Zanzibar digs up a chewing bone for Olive to gnaw on. At least that will occupy her Chew motive.
Olive looks relatively happy to be chomping away on that bone.
Oh! Looks like Sanima wants to play with little Zur-En-Arrh for the first time ever. :D
Well, I guess not... Evil older sisters, they're so mean. DX<
Zur-En-Arrh looks put out. :(
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Zanzibar takes his kids fishing. This is the first time they've fished together, but they seem to getting along rather nicely.
What's this?! It looks like a trans-dimensional loophole in the black hole of the Simverse has opened up spontaneously, creating a time warp that has allowed this gelatinous, blue monster from the mysterious yet formidable race of "police" to travel back in time, along with its garish space pod known as a "police car".
Far-fetched, I know, but true.
It looks like it's sending out mysterious signals... but what for?
Oh, no. Apparently the "police" wants to abduct poor little Olive. Initially, Olive looks forlorn and hesitant to go... however, also notice that all of her human friends are busy and are, once again, excluding her from their activities.
Olive: *whimpers in self-pity* No one really cares about me... I might as well comply to this horribly gruesome stranger's demands. It sure as heck would beat this tar pit of a home.
Olive: I'll think of this as an adventure! Who knows, maybe I'll find a new friend where I'm headed... a friend who'll actually take care of me, that is... *hops into the space unit*
One last look at Olive.
She looks rather happy to be leaving, albeit with the overly aggressive and none-too attractive (well, according to Neanderthal standards, anyway) blue space demon.
You know, I really should've bought her a food bowl (even though that's against the item rule). I guess I'll have to make sure to include that as a new rule for my next round. :(
You live and you learn... that's all we can do.
Zanzibar sobs over the cruelty (ironic) of the police for stealing his one and only canine friend. As far as he knows (or realizes- I bet he doesn't even know that Olive was starving to death), though, the motives of this strange apparition are ambiguous yet malevolent in nature.
This episode has saddened me, too... Actually, I feel more sad about Olive right now than I did when I was actually playing the game. I guess writing it out in words really wrings me inside. :/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sims move on fast, though.
Zanzibar pushes away his heartfelt sadness and embraces his wife in the Spinning Cocoon of Love. <3
The heat of lust and the heat of the day just gave birth to a heck of a heatstroke.
Zanzibar's already passed out. Weakling.
Shadrya tries to revive her weakling husband with a cold glass of water. Like a slap in the face.
Shadrya complains about being hungry. Yippee.
At least Zanzibar finally gets out of his heat-induced coma.
Sanima finally catches her first fish!
Lol, look at the snowman next door. Definitely out of season... but if you can recall, you'll remember that the Bals used the Weather Machine (I know, that was cheating) to bring about a major blizzard.
Zanzibar takes a turn in the kitchen and preps a bass for cooking.
Cooking, cooking, cooking...
Zanzibar looks rather bored. TOO BAD.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Shadrya finally manages to become best friends with Zur-En-Arrh. At this point, the only child she hasn't become best friends with yet is her youngest daughter, Selihoh.
CREEPY STALKER PEDOPHILE!!!! SANIMA, RUN WHILE YOU STILL CAN!!!!!!!!!!
PEDOBEAR ALERT!!!!!! Ew. D:
Clearly, the townie men are trying to prey on the innocent Neanderthal girls of my challenge. I'm NOT allowing that, oh no. >:(
While Sanima bravely tries to ignore the pedophile townie, the rest of the Ashes gather around the dinner rock (dinner table) for a nice meal of bass.
Shadrya: I wish we could float around on the water! That way, we can finally cool off from all of this horrendous heat.
Point made. Shadrya reiterates her aversion to heat by promptly flopping onto the floor and imitating a truly dead possum.
I've installed 3 hammocks so that at least 3 older members of the household can get some rest- 2 of the beds are still cribs. Obviously, the cribs are reserved for the young toddlers.
Le Gasp! Why, it's Ipshad, dour as ever. For this impossibly long round, the Ashes have been way too busy to keep up a social life. After they lost Olive, however, the Ashes finally started caring more about saving their decaying relationships.
The Ashes regain Haaru as a friend via SimStone phone, and they invite Ipshad over for a spell.
Ipshad is holding Selihoh; I guess he was drawn to her red hair. ;)
With a little prodding from Mother Gossip, Ipshad and Zanzibar tumble over the threshold and become best friends. My parent sims always seem to want to gossip about their children.
Shadrya is suffering from both a bad case of sunburn and bladder desperation. She's probably exhausted, too.
Zanzibar is already asleep. :P
Apparently the hammock wasn't comfortable enough, so Zanzibar gets up and plants his face in one of those convenient head rests called "plates".
Well, don't they look like doppelgangers? Blondes, sunburned, sleeping, white hammocks, animal-themed pelts... ;)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Anything wrong with this picture? XD
That was a majorly creepy glitch... at least she's back to normal. The Sims 2 never ceases to amaze me in the multitude of bugs it constantly throws at me.
With that final picture, I bid the Ashes adieu for the next several rounds. Whew! It took me almost an entire month to finish posting this round up. Hopefully I didn't take as many pictures for the Bals; I'm already half-done playing the Bals, but I have yet to post about them.
Until then, ciao!
