North Winds Reboot - Part 7 - Our Time in Strangetown.

Strangetown is an interesting place. Many of the lots are quirky, but not very interactive. I think the creator was trying to keep it basegame friendly. I fixed up several of the lots, adding things that my sims wanted to do, like improve their dancing skills or sing karaoke.

The household managed to settle into Strangetown nicely but had to leave on day 23 when the North Wind came calling. However, a lot happened in their brief stay.

After meeting with his friends in the last episode, . . .

Angelo decided he was off-trend and changed his look to better fit in with the cool kids. He couldn't wait for his friend to see the new Angelo.

Maxwell was the one who wanted to improve his dancing. However, the gym wasn't big enough for a dance studio, so I built Twinkle Toes Dance Academy.

Upstairs has a room for recitals, some bathrooms, and some vending machines.

Downstairs has bathrooms/changing rooms, a sitting area, a dance floor, and some ballet barres. I meant to go back and add some more ballet barres along the wall on the right. I didn't count on them being so popular with the Strangetown residents. There always seemed to be someone stomping around because all the barres were taken.

Some just came for aerobics.

Here's where parents can hang out while waiting for their kids to get done with ballet class.

In the last episode, Calvin had two women vying for his attention: Heidi the space alien . . .

. . . and Marjorie Adam.

It turns out Marjorie won Calvin's heart, and Heidi was none too happy about it!

Heidi caught them out on a date to the shopping area. (Marjorie is really into retail therapy, I guess, because even after I put more date-like options in the Old Strangetown Shopping Center, she still gravitated to the store to browse.)

Anyway, as I said, Heidi was NOT happy and made a scene in public. Calvin was mortified.

After this, Calvin and Marjorie caught a movie, only to be accosted on the way out by this pan-handler wanting all their spare change.

She also thought Calvin was hot.

On their next date, Calvin finally coaxed Marjorie away from the store long enough to enjoy the new karaoke joint that came to town.

Calvin's got the "crazy eyes" mainly because being a supernatural fan, he's always wanted to be a werewolf just like his grandpa Maxwell. He finally got up the nerve to try and convince Maxwell to pass on the "gift."

"It's not a gift, son, it's a curse. Being the proper sort that you are, you really need to think twice about becoming a werewolf. You may find yourself doing all sorts of improper and inappropriate things and hate yourself in the morning."

"I've thought about this for years, grandpop, I know this is what I want," Calvin pleaded.

"Well, if you are sure . . ."

A few days later, Calvin had completed the change.

So Calvin found a girlfriend, became a werewolf, and also became a business owner. He and Maxwell decided to purchase the art gallery, (gambling on being here long enough to enjoy it,) did some remodeling and rebranding, and enjoyed their time owning Two Dogs Gallery, where they sold their paintings and some of Calvin's sketches.

This is when Maxwell was checking the place out. He thought it had a lot of potential. There weren't that many visitors, but he did manage to paint a couple portraits of some women who were there that night. The one on the right is a nearly finished portrait of Olive Specter. The one he's working on is Melody Francisco, a woman he was immediately drawn to. (You can see a bit of the old exhibition area in the other room - the typical gnome sculptures, build/buy paintings, and toilets on pedestals.)

This is Two Dogs Gallery:

I had already revamped the paint n sip area, . . .

I took out the old exhibits and created some display walls and a little section of jewels that the family found an cut themselves. I used the Open for Business system and was pleasantly surprised when Calvin would automatically go to the lot during it's hours of operation. There he and Maxwell painted, talked with the potential customers, served wine, and even cooked up some fish and chips on occasion.

For Pollination Technician #9 Smith, it was all about the wine. Others enjoyed learning to paint.

And still other just liked to watch the master at work.

The aliens really seemed to like the new look of the place.

Calvin wasn't the only one who found romance. Maxwell came across Melody Francisco at the community garden on Love Day, and the stars aligned, I guess.

He even serenaded her with his guitar. Melody is in the music career, which suits her name, but the girl had NO SKILLS in music or anything else for that matter, I was soon to learn.

They were getting hungry, so Maxwell took Melody to the casino and bought a group serving of dim sum for 1447 simoleons! That's how to impress a date.

"Don't look now, but I think that woman is about to help herself to OUR dumplings!" Maxwell whispered. "What is it about this town and people just helping themselves to other people's food?"

I think Maxwell was hoping to take those home with him, lady.

Just act natural. Maybe she'll go away.

This is apparently Melody's formalwear. At least she's color coordinated, except for the cowboy boots. A few days later, Maxwell asked Melody to move in with him. Melody is a perfectionist, party animal, loser, neat and athletic. She was wanting to quit music and join the athletic career, but I figured with a name like Melody, she should at least give music a try. I bought her a base fiddle to learn on. My guess is her parents were music lovers and wanted her to go into music, therefore they named her Melody. Looking back, maybe I should have granted her wish and let her be her own person.

There's a section of this town known as Deadtree. I think it's my favorite area. I remodeled this lot that looked like a roadside stand of some sort into the elixir store, and added the fortuneteller's wagon.

Maxwell took Melody there on their next date. He was asking the magic 8 ball if he should have any more children. He got a positive response. He tried to seduce Melody into some risky woohoo in the caravan, but she was too interested in the alchemy station.

Sometime when I wasn't looking, Maxwell pocketed the magic 8 ball . . . .

And this dragon. I had one dragon egg on the lot, so I know that's where he got it from but I was sure surprised a couple days later when he wandered in the room with this thing.

But I digress. After the elixir store, Maxwell and Melody went for dinner and dancing at the Night Owl Saloon.

As for Angelo, he hasn't been chasing girls, at least not too much. He's mostly been hanging out with his guy friends. He and Johnny Smith became BFFs, but then Johnny suddenly started avoiding Angelo. So Angelo started hanging out with Ripp Grunt some more. The boys discovered the Kine Barn out in Deadtree.

"I don't know man, that poster with Grim is kinda sweet, but the oversized rabbit over there kinda creeps me out!"

The guys were dressed in their outerwear and I could see their breath. I think it was because the doors to this barn were fake ones and open. I remodeled this place after they left, putting real doors on and adding a professional bar and a couple instruments on the stage. It's an interesting lot, but I'm not sure what it wants to be. It has one section that looks like a little dairy store, then it has this barn section and attached to this is a bathroom and bedroom. Very strange.

There are a couple teen girls in this town. One of them is Ophelia, who lives with Olive Specter.

Angelo has an interest in Ophelia, and they had some moments together . . .

But she said she was going with Johnny, and while he had the option to ask her to break up with Johnny, he didn't want to ruin their friendship over a girl, so he cooled things off. I learned later that Ophelia called it off with Johnny anyway and started going with Ripp Grunt, Angelo's other friend.

One day shortly before leaving, Angelo invited all the teens he knew to hang out at the public pool. Everyone showed up except Johnny. Johnny's little sister Jill had recently become a teen, and Angelo was smitten.