Barnacle Bay Buds Part 3 - Ellen, Albert, and the Goldbeards

 It's been quite some time since I played this save. I have a new desktop computer and have finally moved the games off my old laptops so I can play them. The main reason I wanted to move this game was so I could save Ellen Tabor and her home/office to the bin along with the walk-in business building I made and the walk-in diner. 

I checked in on Ellen (the psychiatrist) and her roommate Albert Vinson (brother of one of Ellen's sorority sisters) first. Albert's lifetime wish is to be a 5-star chef. He's single, but was asked out on a date by Celina Tobias.

 They met up at the stadium, so maybe they planned to attend a concert. 

They were getting along really well. 

Nina Caliente showed up as too. Apparently she has a bone to pick with Alec Trebo. It probably has to do with another woman as Alec is a bit of a player, (but so is Nina for that matter.)

He seems to be offering to buy her ticket to the concert.

However, that's not enough to diffuse her temper. 

Perhaps Nina needs to see Dr. Ellen and get some help with her anger issues. 

While Celina was watching Felix Soto play his guitar, Nina tried to hone in on her man. But Albert didn't take the bait. In fact, I got a notice later on the Albert and Celina were going steady.

Meanwhile, back at the office, the sun set, and Ellen discovered her client had more issues than he initially let on. 

"This is the perfect opportunity for me to do more research on the zombie state of mind!" she enthused. She tested out some interactions to see how a zombie would react to them.

After her client left, she started her new book The Psyche of the Zombie State. She's hoping it will be a big hit with the mental health professionals. 

Albert came home floating on air and told Ellen he thought he had found his soulmate. He was 90% sure that Celina was the one for him and asked Ellen's advice.

"Step into my office," she said.

"One of the first things you need to know about a person before you decide to spend your life with them is this: do they have good dental hygiene? If they don't, you should not delude yourself that you can fix them. Good dental hygiene is formed at a very young age, and it's hard to teach an old dog new tricks - not that I'm saying Celina is a old dog. But if she doesn't take good care of her teeth, it could lead to costly dental bills down the road, and everyone knows that financial problems is the number one reason couples divorce. 

Also, especially in this town where so many people aren't on the up and up, it's wise to make sure they don't have a mile-long police rap sheet. 

I know this girl who can run a background check for you. She's just a teenager, but is becoming a rather talented private detective. Would you like her contact information? 

"I trust Celina. I feel that if she learned I ran a background check on her, she would be hurt and might even break things off with me. She works in the military, and I'm sure they ran their own background check before taking her on. As for the potential oral hygiene issue, with her being fully employed and me having a good job in the culinary arts, I think we can overcome any financial woes that come our way."

Does this mean you will be moving out soon? Do I need to be looking for a new roommate?

I'm not sure yet, but I'll give you plenty of notice. 

I got a notification that Alice Goldbeard and Tobias Goldbeard were newlyweds looking for a house and couldn't find one. You fools! The Goldbeards are wealthy and have one of the biggest houses on the island! I left Ellen and Albert to go straighten out the problem.

For those unfamiliar with the Goldbeards, here's the run-down from Sims Wiki and The Sims Lore Youtube video. Ghost Children of Barnacle Bay 

At this point in the game, Tobias has married an old lady named Alice Gils Carbo. Alice has an adult daughter named Celeste who doesn't live in the mansion. (I moved Alice in with Tobias.) I don't know much about Celeste except she is Marcus Malifa's girlfriend. 

Alice is level 4 in the culinary career and is hydrophobic, charismatic, a hopeless romantic, a natural cook, and hates the outdoors. 

Tobias' mother was Eleanor, but she must have passed away since the game started. I'll have to check for her in the mausoleum. In a nutshell, when she was alive, she ruled the family and was the mayor of the town. She has the evil trait, but her bio says she wants the town to forget about the family's rough and rowdy pirate past. When the game starts, Tobias is following in his mother's footsteps and working in the political career, but when I catch up to him, he has turned to a life of crime and is a getaway driver (level 4). 

Eleanor had two siblings who are deceased. Her brother Minty was supposed to be handy, but died by electrocution. Eleanor's sister Marabel died as a child from drowning. Both are buried in the Barnacle Boneyard. Marabel was supposed to be a ghost from the 1800's, so maybe there is some age reversal potions in play in this family. Marabel was a kleptomanic, inappropriate, and had a good sense of humor.

In addition to Tobias and his new wife Alice, the household comprises Anne (Tobias' sister), Coral (Tobias' daughter and the private eye Ellen alluded to earlier), and Kidd (Tobias' son who was a child at the start of the game but is now a teen). 

The Goldbeard family are mortal enemies of the Inkbeards, and with only a few exceptions have the entire Inkbeard family listed as such. 

I haven't taken a deep dive into Tobias. It looks like he went along with his mother's wishes until she passed away, then took his own path. He seems to like his life of crime and has added martial arts to his skill toolbox. 

He has a good relationship with his sister and his kids, and it seems he is pretty nurturing to Davy Moans, the ghost child who is buried on the property and occasionally haunts the place. (Davy was a child of a former servant who was always "crying wolf" about something. Then there was a fire, and everyone thought he was crying wolf and he died in that fire.) 

Tobias' sister Anne is single, 11 days to becoming an elder, and has a lifetime wish of being surrounded by family, which requires raising 5 kids from baby to teen. However she dislikes children, so I don't know what she wants, and she doesn't have enough time to achieve her lifetime wish unless she makes use of a magic potion or becomes a vampire or something. Her other traits include being a hopeless romantic (no romantic interests that I can see), a schmoozer, artistic, and easily impressed. 

Tobias' daughter Coral is failing school, and Tobias wants her to get her grades up. I want her to fail because I want to see if a teen who fails school and ages up to young adult gets to graduate and gets a diploma anyway. Since I took over the family, she's suddenly got interested in doing her homework and going to school.

I try to distract her with private eye activities, but sometimes she sneaks way and gets her grade up to a D. It's really hard to make a sim fail in school I guess. Coral is a light sleeper, and I've watched her toss and turn more than the average sim. She's also a daredevil who dislikes children and can't stand art. She will be my primary focus, but first a little background on her little brother.

Kidd is also failing school. He's evil, a mooch, a daredevil, and eco-friendly. He gets along with his family pretty well, though he has had his privileges revoked because of his poor grades. He's working on them however. He has a new girlfriend - Daisy Annan.

 He's kind of a big brother to Davy Moans, sometimes wanting him to get out of his room, and other times willing to read him a bedtime story.

Kidd is harboring some issues that, if his father knew about, would result in a one-way trip to Dr. Ellen's psychotherapy couch. 

Issue #1: he's a teen and she's and elder. Issue #2: She's his step-mother! I think he also had a wish to skinny dip with his Aunt Anne. Not cool!

Back to Coral. Philip Annan who is an emo teen at the start of the game, has apparently moved out, but hired Coral to snoop in his family's garbage and mailbox for something. Maybe he had a falling out with them. At any rate, it's a rather awkward assignment for Coral as she is friends with both of his sisters - especially the younger one, Fawn who has been also showing interest in being a private eye. I'm thinking both of them might start a detective agency together when both have aged up. 

But for now, Fawn is assuming Coral is making a social call and maybe plans to get some help on her homework so she can pass her classes. This makes it very hard to snoop in the mailbox. 

Coral had to make an excuse that she had somewhere else she needed to be, and left the lot for a bit. Then she came back when the coast was clear to check the mailbox.

Fawn came back out, so Coral had to pretend to need homework help.

Coral is friends with Fawn, but wants to be BFFs with her. Fawn is a few grades behind her in school, and her older sister Fern is closer in age to Coral, but Fern is childish, and Coral dislikes children, so maybe that's why she'd rather be BFFs with Fawn. That weekend they had a girls' day out.

They got magical makeovers, . . . 

. . .  then spent some time playing foosball and talking about their plans for after graduation. 

"So, are you going to go explore the world after you graduate? That's what I'd like to do," Fawn enthused.

"I do want to get off this lame old island with it's feuds and family expectations," Coral replied. "Maybe I'll start my own detective agency." 

"So you don't want to be a politician like your grandmother?"

"No way!"

"Do you plan on getting married and starting a family? That might put a damper on your dream of having a detective agency."

"I wouldn't mind getting married if the right guy came along, but I DON'T want any kids. I can't stand the little buggers."

"Well, starting your own business can be risky. You should have a back-up plan. You like to cook, right? Maybe you could work in a restaurant if times get difficult. 

"The problem with that is I'd always be sampling my cooking, which leads to weigh gain, which means I'd have to exercise all the time to keep my figure." 

"So you really don't like kids?"

"No kids, no art! That's my goal in life. Wanna go check out the festival? It's finally stopped hailing."

Coral always gravitates to the horseshoe game when she's on this lot. She ran into Dr. Ellen while she was here.

"Hi, Coral. Your father called me. He's really concerned about your neglect of your education. You do understand you need to be literate in order to succeed in nearly every profession, right? Would you like to come in for a visit and we can talk about your plans for after graduation?"

"No thanks, Dr. Ellen. I'm good."

"Well then, nanny nanny boo boo to you!"

(Real professional, Ellen!)

Coral and Fawn are good friends, but sometimes I wonder how good of a friend Coral really is - especially when she shares personal secrets in order to befriend others.

Most of Coral's cases are minor things - there seems to be a lot of kids that swear someone else has been using their toothbrush. Sometimes they are just punking poor Coral. No wonder she dislikes children. However, at this early stage in her career, no case is too small. She also goes on stakeouts from time to time to see if she can catch any illicit activities. These usually don't pan out, but once in awhile she gets lucky.

She learned that this guy is afraid of clowns. Meanwhile the consignment clerk recognizes her as the toothbrush sleuth. Not the reputation she was striving for. 

Then the old woman with the face tattoos shows up and slips something into his hand. Is this blackmail? Does he know she escaped from a circus sideshow and is threating her with reporting her whereabouts? (I think the sales clerk is going through a divorce, poor guy. Maybe he should talk to Dr. Ellen about it.) 

"You have a good day, dear. Happy sleuthing!"

Okay, so maybe something nefarious isn't going on here. Maybe she would have been better off trailing her father. He seems to have an in with the politicians in town, despite his career in crime. Maybe he's paying them off to turn a blind eye. 

"You know I have to profess to be tough on crime, Mr. Goldbeard; it's what the constituents want." 

"Say what you have to, but steer clear of our operations. If you do, I'll make sure you advance all the way to Leader of the Free World."

"Okay Mr. Goldbeard. Just remember who to vote for next election."

The night before her birthday Coral tossed and turned. Her mind would just not stop running.

 "I've got to get off this island and out into the world."

"I need to escape the wicked stepmother, . . .

. . . and Dad's criminal enterprises." 

"I'll finally be free to study the things I really want to learn."

"I just hope I'll have enough money to make the move and set up my agency."

 

Maybe I do need to consider a culinary career as a backup plan. 

Happy Birthday, Coral. You're failing school anyway, so let's just take a day off. It's your day. What do you want to do first?

Okay, you've danced around in your "birthday suit." Now what? 

She spent some time at the festival . . . 

There she met another teen who was skipping school that day. Her name is Yuna Niu. 

Yuna suggested they go catch a movie, but Coral wanted to cut and dye her hair instead. So she went to the salon.

The new look for the new life stage. Coral was feeling a bit peckish, so she decided to go to the diner and grab something to eat.

Here she found Petunia Malifa doing the chicken dance for Jose Cuervo, who wasn't all that impressed. It's official! Welcome to adulthood, Coral.

Do you need to see an eye doctor, dear? 

Time for a makeover! Luckily her eyes corrected a few minutes later. 

My question about whether those who flunked school got to graduate anyway was answered.

I kind of wish there were consequences for flunking other than just bad moodlets and constantly being put in time out, but whatever. She also was voted as "The Most Likely to Save the World." 

After graduation the whole family went out to dinner. No one wanted to sit with Anne because she was stinky. 

Jonah Lai caught a fly and ate it. This put Alice off her feed. Meanwhile Kidd scared his old man. Not cool! 

I had already sent Anne home to shower. Enough family time. Coral has a couple more cases then she's going to venture out on her own in her own spin-off game. 

Here's something I've learned: Barnacle Bay must be further down the timeline than Sunset Valley. Barnacle Bay is closer to the Sims 2 timeline. Dina and Nina are about the same age as they are in Sims 2.  This can be explained away with Dina and Nina being part alien and seeming to have access to a time machine of some sort, since Don Lothario was teleported back in time from Pleasantview (Sims 2) to Riverview (Sims 3) after hearing a bunch of women laughing. 

While this can be explained,  I need to justify the fact that Coral seems to have an obsession with Bella Goth's mysterious disappearance, and Bella is just a child in Sunset Valley. 

She dislikes art, yet she sat down and drew this. She later gave it to Fawn as a gift. She also got her first real case! She was looking for clues to the identification of a thief with tattoos. As she was snooping for clues around the tattoo parlor, this thought occurred to her:

I think learning of Bella's disappearance is what prompted Coral's interest in being a detective. 

Anyway, Coral snooped and snooped, . . . 

. . . found a receipt that showed the tattoo artist was applying temporary tattoos. She went to the tattoo artist and threatened to expose her duplicity, and got the name of the thief!

 It was this blonde woman with the pig tails.

Once confronted, the woman pledged to return the stolen items as long as Coral didn't report her to the police. A deal was struck. However, I wonder if Richie Radan knows what he's getting himself into.

Coral's final case was another toothbrush case. Peggy Darwin swore that someone had been using her toothbrush.

As she customarily does, Coral asked or bribed the parent, Lewis-Charlie Darwin, who didn't seem to know anything. The entire time, there was an awful racket coming from the Darwins' only bathroom.

 Case solved.

The culprit has been found! With this little mystery solved, Coral packed her bags and caught the first boat off the island. Destination Sunlit Tides!

(Sunlit Tides was half price a week or so ago, so I got it. Time to explore a new world.) Dr. Ellen has moved to a new town called Desert Mountains and will do her best to help the folks in that town. Goldbeard PI and Desert Mountains will be new spin-off games.