Mod The Sims - View Single Post - Evergreen - Formerly boring name, exciting place

When last we saw them, Sally Mae and Billy Bob had just gotten married. As you may recall Sally Mae always dreamt of family, and a husband to love her so for her finally having her special day meant a lot. She didn't question that they couldn't afford it previously, but in reality it was just another way that Billy Bob made sure he had control of things. He waited until he needed to dose her with another batch of romance to keep her from realizing how dysfunctional their relationship really is.

I imagine some may be wondering if his philandering has continued since Sally Mae came to live with him, and the answer to that is no. No need to cheat if you have an obedient wife who does everything she can to please you and keep you satisfied. To Billy Bob life is about control, and power. Those who have the control, and the power, are the true winners in his book. But unlike Stoffe Billy Bob doesn't seek societies approval and to be considered a figure in the community, he is the kind that doesn't trust government and thinks most everyone are incompetent morons. He wants to be left alone, in his own private bubble of his own control. By making his yard uninviting, keeping a scary watch dog, and driving away people who try to get close he makes sure he has his own little empire with a family to rule with an iron fist. Cheating was merely a way to let off steam until he could reach his end goal of securing an obedient loyal wife who would ensure his life at home was comfortable and constant access to woohoo when wanted. Now he's got that, there's no need to chase other women.

Because Sally Mae is such a good natured sweet soul, she is easy to read, and easy to manipulate. Billy Bob knows just how to make her think he's much nicer and more helpful than he really is. But as with any tyrant, deep down he knows he's in the wrong and that she could revolt at any time and throw his world upsidedown. It's a constant balancing game of giving her enough she remains happy enough to not question, but maintaining enough authority to satisfy himself. I'm sure the wedding was quite a struggle for him, having to pretend to enjoy socializing with her orphanage family, and risking them asking questions he didn't want asked. But it was a risk he had to take, and besides now they are legally bound his control is even stronger.

Billy Bob's one slightly softer spot is his son Jr. He doesn't have much interest in his daughters, but he fancies himself a big strong son to follow in his footsteps in the military. Someone he can teach to be a real man, a strong man, someone to be feared and respected. So when it became time for the second set of twins to grow up, it's no surprise Billy Bob was the one to take Jr to the cake.

Not sure how pleased he was though when Jr grew up and turned out he took after his mother in the genetic department. Look at that gorgeous red color! Not so sure about the rest of his features, but maybe he'll grow in to them

No surprise Billy Bob neglected caring much about the growing up of his daughter, opting instead to start reading to Jr. And blocking the cake so Anna Nicole got to grow up in the corner instead.

Grew up into quite the cutie though!

I love her facial expression, it looks sort of skeptical to me. Like she's just made the sort of questioning/doubtful noise you get when you inhale air and pull back lips like that, and like she's about to say "I don't know about this...". Maybe she grew up, took one look at things and that was her reaction

Meanwhile Jr doesn't seem to interested in the book Billy Bob is reading to him, also busy looking around at their play room.

Anna Nicole did find something she liked though! A hug with the teddy never does go amiss. And is it just me or does the teddy look quiet alive? Like looking at her out of the corner of it's eyes, a friend that's listening to her, even though she's not using any words. Maybe teddybjörnen Frediksson has snuck into my game! (Link is to a Swedish song about a teddybear, by my favorite artist as a kid)

Now there are no babies to use the baby dangle, Peggy Sue is having a turn.

Bed-time is always quite a long procedure, with all those tots to put in their cribs. But everyone gets a good night kiss from mommy :lovestruc

And as always in the Sawyer household, potty-training is a priority. Lulu Belle always looks so sad as a toddler, probably cause of the angle of her eyes. She does rather take after her mother, same sweet gentle caring nature and Sally Mae has the same kind of touch of sadness about her.

Positively crawling with toddlers!

Billy Bob offering to "watch" the kids for a while so Sally Mae could clean and get on top of the household chores. As usual though it's really not much help since he only offers when they are already taken care of and minding their own business.

As you know I love it when the game does things that matches exactly how you see things. This was one of those instances. Doesn't look particularly special at first glance, just Billy Bob reading to Jr. Until you realize he's not supposed to be reading to Jr, his queue says Anna Nicole. But clearly in Billy Bobs mind there's only one child, and that's Jr, so that's who he'll read to no matter what he was supposed to do.

Birthdays are really quite frequent in the Sawyer household, even with my extended age spans. Before you knew it, it was Lulu Belle's and Peggy Sue's birthday!

When you gotta go, you gotta go. Even if it means you are busy peeing while your twin sister is growing up

Lulu Belle doesn't seem to bothered though. She really grew into her face I'd say, no longer look quite as sad. Really quite pretty!

Once done on the potty it's Peggy Sue's turn.

While Sally Mae does love all of her kids, she does seem to have a special bond with Anna Nicole. Perhaps she worries a little extra about her, since Billy Bob tends to ignore her so completely focusing entirely on her brother.

As you can see the cribs for Peggy Sue and Lulu Belle have been replaced with bunk beds. Orange, yuck! But when funds are limited you take what you can get

Probably not too fun the girls to share a bedroom with their younger siblings and their crying, though Sally Mae made sure they put in a sound-proofing threshold (magic!

)

Being older does have it's perks though! Like being able to make snow angels in the freshly fallen snow!

Or building snow men! One wonders how Lulu Belle managed to convinced dad to get her such a pretty outerwear outfit.

Maybe not even Billy Bob is entirely immune to her charm. She is such a sweetheart, always looking out for her little sister and brother.

Clearly doesn't entirely trust Billy Bob to keep a proper eye on them while Sally Mae is busy.

She's also very fond of Harley, often sneaks out to play with him and very determined to teach him some tricks even though he's getting on the older side.

Peggy Sue does also like her siblings, but she's more academically inclined and focused on learning.

By spring it was time for another birthday, and this time it's not one of the kids. It's mommy's turn to grow up! Even the little ones pay attention to such an event :lovestruc

If you read Sims 2 discussion forums you may have actually seen Sally Mae's birthday before. I tend to re-do birthdays if the outfit they grow up into is totally crazy and Sally-Mae was one of those that got to do hers twice. The first attempt was really quite funny, and as if the game had it's own idea of what kind of path the story should go down. This is what Sally Mae wore the first time. Buttcrack on display and trashy trash trashy

Almost as if the game said "Oh trashy trailers, white trash! I know what would go GREAT with that!

Sally Mae may live in a trashy trailer, but she's not that trashy, and while she does enjoy a bare midriff she wouldn't dress like that. So we had another go and the second time around game made more sensible choices. Both Billy Bob and Peggy Sue look to approve of mommy's new look.

Sally Mae is a jeans lady all the way though, so she soon swapped out the black pants for her signature blue jeans and belt. Here she is sitting in Billy Bob's tv chair, having just served pork chops for dinner. Peggy Sue brought home a friend from school, none other than Karl Sernman who happens to be my favorite Sim.

Since this isn't relevant to Sally Mae and her story I thought I'd put it under spoilers and those who are interested can read and those who aren't can skip

Karl is the first child Emma and Joel Sernman, the only case of childhood sweethearts in my game. Joel is third generation core family. I call them core family, because they were the family that changed my play-style forever and made me explore the game in new ways. The whole hood is built around them. None of the stories would exist or be as they are, if it weren't for the core family and I learned from them.

Back in the day I'd do the same as a lot of people did, perfect happy family, playing one household until I got bored and then never touching it again. But then came Adela Bailie, and a story where things weren't just puppies and rainbows. She became like a real person, and because of that I kept my interest and fondness of her. She had a daughter, Maja, who became just as life-like and interesting. I ended up creating two brothers in CAS, Daniel and Alex Sernman, pairing off Daniel with Maja as teens. Once they graduated from college, they had twin girls (Elna, who you may recall as the partner of Max Flex, Alicias brother, and Moa) and later on, baby boy Joel. All very different, and all equally fun. Prior to this I had never made it past gen 2, and if there was more than one kid in gen 2 and I played the household long enough for any kids to grow up I'd always just like one of them and move the others to deco houses to be forgotten. But here, not only had I made it to generation 3 for the first time ever, I also managed to keep interest in all three kids and continue to play them all the way to adulthood.

When the original hood went boom Emma and Joel had just had their first child, still a baby. That baby was Karl. The first generation 4 ever born, and the bridge between the original hood and this one. Because hood went boom so early after his birth, he was the one Sim I hadn't gotten to know yet. The blank slate that could only be filled if hood was restored, and so he became the symbol of everything I love about Sims, and about my hood. Whenever I see him it reminds me how much I love each and every one of my Sims, and how lucky I am that I get to see him grow up at all. A nod to the past, and the future, and all good things wrapped up in one adorable little boy walking around spreading happiness and being the sweetest little boy ever, despite his 1 nice point personality :lovestruc :lovestruc

And after that quick hood backstory detour, back to the Sawyers :3

Nothing like a balloon fight to pass the time with a new friend.

It's a good thing for Karl that Billy Bob is too busy with his military training exercises to pay much attention, or I suspect he would have chased Karl off. He does not like any kind of males around his family, even if it's just a child.

Sally Mae on the other hand is spending some time with her old pal, the toilet. Vomiting yet again...

I doubt Billy Bob has noticed though. Lately he's been quite busy with work. Through an unfortunate incident with a chance card he got fired, but he managed to convince them it was all a misunderstanding and got re-hired in the career. He's determined to prove them wrong and get back up to his old rank, so he's pouring all energy into work.

The girls are quite enjoying his absence and lack of attention, getting quite daring and turning their parents bed into a jump fort. Sure hope they get out of there before Billy Bob comes back from work, as I don't expect he'll be amused.

For Sally Mae there's not much play, but she does enjoy tending her vegetable garden. Weeds may be stubborn, but sometimes it's nice with a moment to yourself and your thoughts. And it looks like Sally Mae's thoughts are taken up by pregnancy suspicions. I imagine she's vomited enough in her days to recognize morning sickness when she sees it.

Vegetables are not enough to feed a family though, most of it goes to pepper juice. So every so often it's necessary to make a trip to the grocery store, as funds are tight enough as it is and home delivery can't quite be justified. And while Billy Bob doesn't like to let Sally Mae out of his sight he refuses to do the grocery shopping. That is womens work, and far beneath a man of his stature. And besides, it's only grocery shopping. It'll just be a bunch of other women, so no harm in letting her go by herself once every blue moon. Great way for him to help hide that he indirectly forbids Sally Mae from leaving home, because if anyone asks she does go out to get groceries, and if she ever complains she never gets out Billy Bob figures that between pointing out the kids need her and that she does get out for grocery shopping he should be able to avoid any serious conversations he doesn't want to have.

And while Billy Bob is usually pretty smart, that whole "only women do grocery shopping"-thing is not quite the case. Lots of men have moved on from such silly nonsense, and the grocery store is full of all kinds of people. And on this particular visit, someone very special happened to be there. While Sally Mae was greeting Nicolas Thompson, who you may recall got to witness the birth of Peggy Sue and Lulu Belle, who walks in if not Stoffe!!!

Sally Mae hasn't spoken to, or seen any of her orphanage family since the wedding which was almost a year ago. The moment she clapped eyes on Stoffe she gave such a strong impression of just wanting to leap up into his arms out of sheer joy. But since that's considered romantic in the Sims world she settled for a friendly hug. But there's no mistaking that expression on her face. That's the face of someone who feels safe, and calm, and who really needed that hug.

Funny thing is, Stoffe looks just the same. One wonders what's been going on in his life since we last saw him, because clearly he's just as happy to see Sally Mae, and needed that hug just as much.

So much catching up to do!

I think that icon is probably something to do with voting and politics, but for some reason to me it looked like one of those machines in factories back in the day, where you'd stamp the time you arrived to clock in to work. Maybe Stoffe feels overworked? He sure looks tired there.

Talking to Sally Mae does seem to cheer him up quite a bit though.

Suddenly he excused himself and went to the ATM.

Turns out he wanted to withdraw some money, to give as a belated birthday present to Sally Mae. He sure is sweet :lovestruc Perhaps she told him she's not had money to buy any new clothes for herself since she turned adult, apart from the jeans. Or maybe he figured that with four kids at home she'd rarely have time or money to do anything for herself, and wanted to make sure she got a chance to.

Whatever the reason, Sally Mae was quite touched by the gesture.

I'm sure both of them would have quite liked to stay and chat longer, but with four kids at home waiting for their dinner Sally Mae had no choice but to say goodbye and go home and get dinner started.

Grilled cheese, om nom nom. Though once again I feel like there's something sort of pondering about Sally Mae's expression.

And for once, no spooning. And is it just me, or does Billy Bob look worried in his sleep?

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