TinyTown Challenge Part 3

 Annie's house is coming along. As promised, here are some of the photos Annie took in China. 

Above is ten small pictures from Egypt on one wall and six of China on the other wall. 

Beatrice is still obsessed with befriending Paguk To'Vedachot and thinks he bears a striking resemblance to the pushable statues they found in China. (I think it's the ears.) I don't know if she is in love with him, but she thinks about him constantly and wants to be BFFs with him. Maybe I need to get her a telescope. 

At this point, Annie was living in the loft above the gallery. Beatrice was so tickled that Annie finally got some windows.

She was also disgusted that Annie hadn't taken out her garbage.

Annie was too hungry to worry about housework at the moment. Beatrice has a habit of cleaning up everyone else's dirty dishes and other messes. She doesn't have the neat trait, so I don't know what possesses her to do this. 

I moved Annie's apartment out of the loft and made a two story living space. One thing I wish was different is the stairs on the outside is the shortest way to get from the bedroom and darkroom to the main living area. However, the current arrangement allows for the gallery to be open to the public while the living area is inaccessible to them. Her bathroom is on the first floor near her bedroom, but is also accessible for her guests/general public.  

This isn't the completed version. It's still a work in progress at this point. 

Beatrice was finally able to get Paguk to come over for dinner, but he's a tough nut to crack as far as befriending him. 

Annie came over for dinner too, but I think Beatrice was so flustered to learn that Paguk was coming over, that she forgot that Annie is a vegetarian and prepared the kind of spaghetti with meat sauce instead of the vegetarian spaghetti. Annie was a good sport and didn't want to make waves when she knew this dinner was so important to Beatrice, so she politely ate it and paid the price later. 

Annie asked Paguk what he did to make money as a resident alien. He replied that he bought and sold art. (The game pegs him as unemployed, but he seems to be living on Earth somewhere, so it makes sense to me that he should have a way to make money.)

Beatrice has managed to achieve friend status, but it often deteriorates, and she has to send some friendly text messages to maintain it. All she really knows about Paguk at this point is that he is clumsy. 

In other news, Annie met a handsome man in uniform at the pool the other day. The guy was coming on to her, and she found him intriguing. 

The problem is that this is Elias, Beatrice's crush. Annie was apparently unaware of Beatrice and Elias' supposed relationship and simply told Beatrice about meeting this cool military guy named Elias and how he flirted with her. 

"Elias Alder?!?" she asked.

"Yeah, that's the guy," Annie confirmed. 

"Well that little sneak! I'll have to have some words with him!" Beatrice decided.

So she called Elias over and gave him a mean high five.

She was definitely feeling betrayed.

"Elias, you know I love you, but I heard you have been out flirting with other women, and that is not okay! I think from now on, we should just be no more than friends," she stated, hoping that would upset him, and he would apologize, tell her she's the only girl he could possibly love, and beg for forgiveness. 

"Okay, that's fine. You know we never were committed to each other, right? If you just want to be friends, I get it. I'm a ramblin' man, and I know only certain chicks get that about me," he responded. 

He said goodbye, leaving poor Beatrice to cry it out. 

Once she had pulled herself together, splashed some cold water on her face, and redid her make-up, Beatrice decided she would take herself out on the town and try to get her mind off Elias. Appaloosa Plains is a small town, and word got around quickly that Beatrice was back on the market.

No sooner had she stepped into the karaoke bar than her phone rang.

It was red-headed Rex Dunham. "I heard about you and Elias breaking up. Don't waste another minute on that guy. I don't want to be the rebound guy, but after some time has passed, I hope you might consider going out with me," he said.

Beatrice sang a couple "somebody done somebody wrong" songs, had a drink, and went home. 

Meanwhile, Annie, disappointed to learn that Elias was a flibbertigibbet, decided to explore other potential suitors. She asked Elliott Ferreira out to the festival. She got a bad face paint while there, so maybe that's why there wasn't a spark between them.

 

They still had fun dancing and having a water balloon fight, . . . 

. . . but the love meter was less than enthusiastic about this pairing. 

 Annie and Elliott decided to go to the karaoke bar to round out the evening. 

Elliott had a good time singing with a girl he just met there . . . 

while couch-potato Annie took a nap on the bench outside.

I'm not actively pursuing mates for the "tiny townies," but if something clicks, so be it. 

Beatrice and Annie bonded over the boyfriend issue, and Beatrice helped Annie get the photo of a snake charmer.

They also had a girls' night out at the Port a Party. However, this time it was Beatrice who took a nap while Annie partied the night away.

We had a few thefts during this time. First of all, Venkat Jackson snuck into Annie's house and stole one of her China photos, a special festival egg, and a planter of flowers she had outside. Annie bought a burglar alarm afterward to help protect her valuable photographs. 

If I see Venkat around town, he's getting a knuckle sandwich!

Annie spotted a cardinal along the property line, and since it was red, (Annie's favorite color), she just had to have it. She bought a cute little red birdcage for it and named it Cherry. Beatrice is also a fan of Cherry and likes to play with her. 

Unfortunately, Cherry disappeared. I checked both Beatrice's and Annie's backpacks, and checked to make sure the bird hadn't died, but she was nowhere to be found. All I can think of is someone at a party they recently threw must have pocketed it. 

They threw a party to hopefully help fund Annie's trip to France, but they ended up spending more than they made. Beatrice cooked up a bunch of goodies to sell, but only a few sold. Most people were out dancing at Annie's place or eating from the buffet table. 

Hoping to capture another pet, both ladies tried to tame the raccoon that frequents the place. 

"No, we don't have any fish around here, raccoon."

Raccoon does NOT want to be petted. 

Despite the problem with the party not bringing in any money, Annie earned enough lifetime happiness points to earn an inheritance, which made her trip a piece of cake and allowed us to finish her house to her liking. 

Again, she took more pictures in France than I did, but I managed to get a few.

I really should have made Annie leave the snake charming basket at home, she was constantly taking it out to "play for tips," even when the only creature within earshot was a gecko. 

"Hi Rex, I'm in France at the moment. Guess what? They have ice cream trucks here too!"

Upon her return, Annie experienced more man drama. She ran into Elias at the library, and discovered that, scoundrel that he is, she still found him attractive and wanted to be friends, if not lovers. 

I think he invited her to a party, but she didn't go. The next day she was enjoying herself on the beach, when who should happen by but Elias.

They hung out for awhile, and enjoyed the sun and sand, but it seemed pretty clear to me that Elias is still running away from any potential commitment.

"No woman is going to entrap me in their snare, no matter how pretty they are!" Elias decided. 

Annie was asked out on a date by one of Elias' coworkers, but the guy was so full of himself, thinking he's irresistible to all women, that Annie took offense. 

"The nerve of this guy!" she thought. "Well, I guess I can bore him to death to ensure that he doesn't want a second date."

Mission accomplished!

As for Beatrice, she managed to get Paguk to come over and hang out.

He's suggesting she invest in a computer, but although she isn't a technophobe, she likes the simple life. All she needs is her record player, her books, her garden, and her kitchen. Again he ran off before she could make him her BFF. He's a busy guy, I guess. So many abductions, so little time.

Annie finally completed her house to her satisfaction. To date, she's earned 26508 simoleons for her photos and spent 8410 on film for her cameras. She has achieved the following goals:

• Photog, which increases the base value of her photos
• Architectural Eye, which increases the value of all her photos
• Human Form Expert, which increases her relationships with sim she already knows if she takes their photo. 

Annie's finished house.

The darkroom.

Annie's bedroom, with her bestie Beatrice watching over her.

There are still a few things I want to do with Annie and Beatrice, but I think it's time to add our next Tiny Town resident.  Meet Cyprus Handyman.

Cyprus' selected traits are handy and eccentric, and his randomized ones are disciplined, loves the heat, and kleptomaniac. So I guess I'll let him keep or sell anything he happens to steal. He spends a lot of time in Annie's gallery, so I hope he doesn't get any bright ideas about taking her stuff. (She's a member of his household technically, so I think we're safe on that matter.) 

By day 2, Cyprus collected some scrap at the junkyard, registered as an inventor at City Hall, and went to the library to read some skill books for inventing and handiness. He's now level 5 in inventing and level 4 in handiness but has yet to successfully invent something.

(You'll see a fancy car parked in front of Beatrice's place. There was a lot of money, and I wanted to start Cyprus out with very little to start with, and Beatrice is very good about cleaning up everyone else's messes, so I figured she deserved a car. Annie has a Vespa she bought while in France.)

Sorry Cyprus, the buffet table is for parties only. Maybe Beatrice will fix you some breakfast or you can get something from your minifridge. 

Annie's upper deck seems to be Cyprus' favorite dining spot. We'll get to know Cyprus more in the upcoming installments, and get started on his rustic farmhouse as soon as he starts bringing in some money.