Graduation Day dawned crisp and clear.

Then, right before the ceremony, the clouds opened up, turning the melting snow into slush.

The graduation ceremony was mercifully inside.

At least both of the graduates had a lot to brag about.

Joy Reacher walked alongside Edmund. He had to admit that he enjoyed the company. They both had a wry appreciation for the pomp and circumstance that Victoria didn’t share.

Her favorite part was the end. Free at last!

By evening, the rain had abated. Aunt Abby took time out of her busy promotion schedule for her latest moving to meet the new graduates at The Round Table for a dinner celebration.

“I’m not as young as I used to be,” Abby admitted, “but there are some interesting roles for old ladies!”

Everyone brought their orders outside and shuffled to find places to sit down.

Edmund asked Joy to join them. “Mom has something planned at home,” she admitted, but she couldn’t help but smile at Edmund’s disappointment. “I can drop by for a little while, at least.”

Edmund at down, and his family immediately crowded in around him. “This didn’t work out quite the way I intended,” he told Joy apologetically.

Joy laughed. “It’s all right. I have to leave anyway.”

Edmund watched her back as she left.

“I can’t believe my kids are adults already!” Andria exclaimed.

“I am so proud of you,” Dylan told Victoria. “You’ve grown up into an amazing young woman. I am proud to be your father.”

“Wow, Dad,” Victoria said. “I don’t know what to say.”

“Feel the burn!” Winston interrupted.

“Firecracker shrimp, just the way I like it!”

Sawyer ate alone.

As they finished their meal, the chef sidled nervously up to Andria. “Are you Andria Sword Sample? The fae activist?” she asked. “You’ve done so much for us. Could I have your autograph?”

“I’ve done so much?” Andria said. “Really?”

“Because of you, the Fae Council is letting us come out of hiding. Thank you so much.”

The chef wasn’t the only fae who showed up at the restaurant.

“Are you… are you a fairy?” Edmund whispered.

The winged woman laughed “Some people call us that,” she agreed. “It’s as good a name as any.”

“I’d love to get some pointers on how to make people do your bidding,” Gamora said to Aunt Abby.

“Why do you think I can help you with that?” Abby asked.

“Well, you ARE a successful actress,” Gamora said.

“I don’t think acting works the way you think it does….”

“Oh, my stomach!” moaned one of the restaurant guests. “Is there a doctor in the house?”

Sawyer sighed. “I never get a day off of this job.”

“Here, hold still. This won’t hurt a bit.”

“Hey man, are you sure? Oh, wait that does feel better!” He grabbed Sawyer’s hand and shook it vigorously. “Thank you! Thank you!”

Sawyer cooly extracted his hand and shook off the other man’s sweat. “You’re lucky I was here. Gutbusteritis can have serious consequences.”

“This is for making amazing babies,” Andria said, and she swept Dylan off his feet.

“I think it’s time to go home, Dylan murmured.

So they did.

It snowed in the night, and in the morning it was clear that Spring would be pushed off again.

“This winter just goes on and on,” Victoria complained to Edmund. “It’s even too cold for safe diving.”

“This last cold snap doesn’t seem fair,” Edmund admitted. “Even the family weather manipulator can’t handle something like this.”

“Wait, I just had an amazing idea!” Victoria cried. “Let’s get out of Avalon and go someplace warmer! We’re adults now. We can make our own airline reservations. Let’s just go!”

“Take a vacation?” Edmund said thoughtfully. “I admit it never occurred to me.”

“Will you come with me?” Victoria asked.

“I would love to see a tropical climate myself,” Edmund admitted. “Of course. And you know Winston will never forgive you if he can’t come too.”

“I’ll talk to him. He’s going to a culinary magnet school. I’m sure we can make some kind of arrangement.”

Within hours, she was on the computer, making airline reservations.

Off to sunny Isla Paradiso!

———-

I was pretty sure that Victoria’s birthday was on the first or second day of spring, just when the snow had all melted. Then there was some gap in time before I played the game again, and we were back to snow covered landscapes. Not sure what was up with that. It’s likely that some of the Options settings for season length got tinkered while I was messing around with game mods, but usually the game keeps you in the season you already have.

So, the result is that Avalon gets an unseasonably long winter, and I get to try out NRaas Traveler!

Joy Reacher was included in the group that I sent to The Round Table to have dinner, but for some reason she didn’t actually stay to eat. Sigh.

The game created a fairy paparazzo, which kind of fed into Andria’s storyline, so I went with it. She did kind of get hit with the ugly stick, though. Then again, I really really enjoy all the different kinds of faces my gene pool produces.

Oh, and Andria and Dylan are all over each other autonomously, as you’ll notice. I only take shots of half of their shenanigans. It’s so adorable.

Edmund saw her across the street from Morgana Beach clubhouse as he left Victoria’s party. She was just standing there, silently, as if waiting for someone. Edmund could feel the waves of magic radiating from her. He was drawn like a moth to flame.

“My lady?” He called into the silence. Do you need help? May I be of some assistance? ”

She whipped around. “You,” she said. “Who are you?”

“I am called Edmund Sample” he said. “I am at your service.”

A smile played over her lips. “I would be careful pledging service to strangers you meet in the dark,” she said. “Anyway, I’m Marisela Flynn.”

You look like you’re searching for something, ” Edmund said. “This is an odd place to wander at night.”

“I’m always searching for something,” she said. “Sometimes I find it.”

As she spoke, the moonlight glinted of her teeth. Edmund started in surprise. Before he could be sure of what he saw, they were gone.

“I see that I’ve badly overstepped the bounds of propriety,” Edmund said. “It’s no business of mine what you’re looking for. I had the sudden thought that I could help. I’ll leave you in peace.”

“No!” Marisela said. “I’m sorry I have been so cold. I’m not used to people noticing me when I wander at night. Please stay. I’d like to know more about you.”

Edmund found himself talking about his fae blood and his quest to understand the unique magical underbelly of Avalon.

He even introduced her to Kalai.

Marisela hung on his every word and encouraged him to tell her more.

At last, Edmund realized just how lopsided the conversation was. “Now you know everything about me,” he said, “but I know almost nothing about you. I know you are magical as well. Tell me how.”

Marisela hesitated. “You’re right,” she said. “It’s not really a magical gift like yours, though. It’s more of a curse.”

“A curse!” Edmund said. “I have never encountered such a thing. Let me try to help.”

“I think you can help,” Marisela said, “but probably not the way you intended.”

She caught his hand, and suddenly he couldn’t pull away.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I’ll try to make this hurt as little as possible.”

Then she sank her teeth into the tender flesh of his wrist.

Edmund gasped, unable to cry out. His wrist burned as she drank his blood. She held him firmly against his involuntary flinching so that her teeth tore his flesh as little as possible.

“What have you done to me?” he rasped as she let him go.

Marisela looked at him tenderly. When she spoke, her voice was sad. “I’ve done you no permanent harm. I’m sorry. It’s what I am.”

Before he could move again, she was gone.

He returned home, so lost in his brooding that he barely noticed the world around him.

He stumbled distractedly to a chair, where he could rest and let the last of the tremors from the blood-sucking subside.

Which left him victim to another one of Gamora’s pranks.

“A whoopie cushion? Seriously? Are we five?”

“What’s up, big brother?” Victoria asked. “You left the party early. Did you have a good time?”

“I think I have stumbled upon a creature of the night,” Edmund said without preamble. “I should have guessed that if fae lived on Avalon, there could be more sinister monsters as well.”

“There are rumors that one of our ancestors was a vampire,” Victoria said. “I guess it doesn’t shock me. There’s a lot about Avalonian magic that we don’t understand. Like, almost all of it.”

“It’s true,” Edmund mused. “There have been so many secrets for so long. We understand so little, even about ourselves, much less anything else magical here. It doesn’t have to be this way. I want to help bring enlightenment to our home.”

“I’m sure you can do it,” Victoria said. “Dark magical things are right up your alley.”

Edmund no longer felt sick. He felt energized. He hurried up to his room to begin sorting through old tomes of magical lore.”

There was a lot to find.

———-

I’m happy to kick January on the ass on the way out. I’ve played a lot ahead at this point, but I have had absolutely no inspiration to write. It feels like a victory to get something out! We’ll see if I can keep it up.

Marisela Flynn is Sean Flynn’s daughter from before I remembered to turn off fertility for him and Forest. She’s not Forest’s daughter. She and Edmund not only have heart-farts, they seem to have a lot of autonomous chemistry. I don’t know what her traits are.

Edmund is still sort of casually dating Joy Reacher. The threads are not resolved by current gameplay, so we’ll have to see how they all play out.

“This isn’t going to work,” Winston said. “It’s much too cold for swimming.”

“It’s not that cold!” Victoria protested.

Winston raised his eyebrows and said nothing.

“OK, it is kind of cold. But just a little bit! I brought my wetsuit.”

“Hey,” said the first arrival to Victoria’s birthday party. “You aren’t seriously planning to swim in this weather, are you?”

“All right, all right,” Victoria said as she stalked out of the water. “We’ll have the party in the clubhouse.”

The clubhouse was warm and dry and much more comfortable for everyone.

“Here we go! On to adulthood!”

“Better you than me!” Winston called.

“It’ll be you soon enough!” Victoria cried.

“So this is adulthood, huh? Am I supposed to feel responsible or something?”

“Hey,” Danial Ibari-Saunders said. “Now that you’re legally an adult and all, have you thought about settling down and having a family?”

“What? Are you kidding? Don’t I at least need a boyfriend to do that? Are you volunteering? Because if you are, I’m going to tell your wife.”

“Woo!” Danial shouted. “She’s into me! Do you hear that, guys? She’s totally into me.”

Victoria just had to roll with it. “You’re so persuasive. Where is your wife, anyway? Does she even know you’re here mingling with recent high school grads?”

Victoria was actually rather surprised that Danial had accepted her invitation. He’d been a senior when she was a freshman, and he’d been out of school for quite a while. Plus, he was the only one of her friends who was already married.

“Sasha’s not feeling well,” Danial said. “She sends her regrets.”

“Aww,” Victoria said. “Tell her I hope she’s feeling better soon.”

“Sure thing. You want to break out the karaoke machine?”

“You kidding? I love that thing!”

“So let’s fire it up and sing!”

They sang, and everyone else gathered around to listen.

But it didn’t take Victoria long to realize she was seriously outclassed.

“Hey, you make a great backup singer, Vickie!” Winston taunted. But he was right. Danial could fill the room with his voice. He sang like a pro.

“All right then,” she said as Danial completed his big finale, “time for something else!”

“Aww,” Danial called after her. “I was just getting warmed up!”

“I’m afraid to hear what you sound like when you’re at your best! But, seriously, let’s do something everyone can join in. This thing has to have something we can dance to.” She punched the buttons on the clubhouse jukebox.

“Eek!” Roderick squealed. “I love this song! Let’s dance, Vickie!”

“Hey, you’re not a bad dancer!”

“Well, I kind of practiced after your party when you folks went on vacation.”

“I’m hoping to make a career out of dancing,” Winston admitted to his classmate, Roderick’s brother Angelina Winter.

“Performance careers are a lot of work,” Angelina pointed out.

“I’m not afraid to work hard,” Winston said defensively.

“I don’t think dancing should be work anyway,” Angelina said. “And aren’t we supposed to be doing that now?”

“I think this party is getting too loud,” Edmund said. “Would you like to go someplace else?”

“Gladly,” Joy said. They slipped out the door together.

The clubhouse was full of friends having fun. Victoria couldn’t think of when she’d last felt so light hearted.

When Roderick went to get a drink, Victoria stole some time with her best friend Judith.

“What do you think of Roderick?” Judith hissed. “Isn’t he adorable?”

“Well, he is cute,” Victoria admitted.

“He’s totally into you!”

“Oh, come on,” Victoria chided. “Roderick’s into everyone.”

“I think Danial Ibari is the cutest guy in the room,” Judith admitted.

“Bite your tongue!” Victoria said. “He’s a married man. Hands off.”

Judith laughed. “I know, but I can look!”

At last, people began to trickle home. Victoria stood and watched the sunset through the picture window. She could see her parents flirting down on the beach.

In the silence, after all the laughing and excitement, she felt a little forlorn. Where did she go from here? School was over. She was supposed to have some idea of a career. But the only thing that really called to her was the sea. Could you get a job playing in the ocean?

Maybe things would be a bit clearer in the morning.

———-

Well, here we are, at the start of Generation 7!

I and I thought Vickie was beautiful as a TEEN. She’s just captivating as a YA.

She’s proving to be more interested in diving and building things than she is romance. She’s not going to turn around and get married a day or two after aging up the way Dylan did. I had been brainstorming a romantic storyline for her based on the attraction notifications and interactions from when she was a teenager, but I think she decided to spite me and fall for someone else. I guess we’ll see. I am DYING to see Gen 8 babies, but I want to give her time to do things the way she wants to do them.

The bit about Danial Ibari-Saunders being so great at karaoke is because I just learned that he entered the Singer career.

Roderick Winter, if I failed to mention it before, is the grandson of February Callender. It’s pretty cool to see her hair color still floating around. He and his two sisters are the kids of Sawyer’s half-sister Rosie Winter and Dylan’s high school girlfriend Corinna Shepherd. Those two gals have had a lifelong happy partnership, but they never bothered to get married.

Comments from the peanut gallery on Vickie’s romantic prospects are welcome. I can use all the input I can get.

Victoria devoted her next weekend morning to Connery.

The old fellow never complained, but you could tell when he was feeling a bit neglected.

Their games lasted until almost noon…

When she was called inside unstick Bonehilda’s arm from the trash compactor.

It was rough being the only one in the house with any idea how stuff worked.

Then she sat down to check her email.

“Gamora! I know you did this!”

Dance was on hiatus, and Winston was getting more and more obsessed with flexibility. He started spending a lot of his off time at the gym.

He was taking a yoga class that was opening all sorts of new range of motion.

“I have GOT to find a way to use this stuff in a performance,” he decided.

It was just a matter of HOW.

“Edmund, you let your dragon sleep on the floor again,” Andria said sternly. “Come get him before he sets fire to the hardwood.” She paused and chuckled. “Not something I ever expected to say.”

“Don’t worry, Mother,” Edmund said. “I’ll take care of her.”

He called her name, and the dragon hatching leapt from the floor to alight gracefully on his arm.

Sawyer was up in the early morning. He usually strolled into work after 10AM these days, but today he was required to do a yearly wellness clinic.

He hated dealing with the riffraff of the town and their piddling little problems. He was supposed to be take apart brains and putting them back together. But the outreach was a hospital program he was required to participate in.

There was already a long line by the time he made it to the park. At least there was a warm cozy place inside to conduct his clinic.

He administered vaccines.

And antibiotics.

And hypnotized patients out of bad habits. Or something.

“Hey,” Jasper Crumplebottom said. “Can I trust you to be discreet?”

“If it helps, I have no interest in your personal life whatsoever,” Sawyer replied.

“My girlfriend and I really want to have a child, and she can’t, so can you hook me up with whatever it takes for me to get pregnant?”

“Let me take a look,” Sawyer said.

“Hmm. I can’t cure your maleness, but I can start you on male pregnancy hormones.”

“Thanks so much!” Jasper exclaimed. “I won’t forget this!”

“Don’t worry,” Sawyer said. “I can forget it for both of us.”

Sam Pistachio also showed up at the clinic.

She was really concerned about her toddler daughter’s cold, but Sawyer was more concerned about her.

“Being a single mom late in life tends to dull the brain,” he said. “Let me check your reflexes.”

“Ow! Ow! Ow!”

“Your reflexes seem to be within normal parameters,” Sawyer said. “False alarm. Carry on.”

“Actually,” Sam said, “that was kind of hot. Do you take new patient?”

“Call my secretary.”

Dylan and Andria had always been self-employed, but these days they weren’t terribly worried about their careers and didn’t mind taking time off to have fun.

While Sawyer was treating patients, they were at a Simfest in the park — possibly the worst-organized Simfest they’d ever attended.

“Didn’t this guy just go on?” Andria hissed. “Boo!”

“I think he set the same arm on fire the last time.”

Afterward, Andria took Dylan to Monmouth Archives.

“I take it you have something in mind other than checking out books,” Dylan said, trying to hide his confusion.

“Of course I do,” Andria agreed. “This is something I should have done a long time ago. You go on ahead. I need to change.”

“You’re — oh, I see,” Dylan said.

“There it is!”

“Come with me, my love,” she said. “Don’t worry. They don’t bite.”

Dylan took a deep breath and followed her.

“Why have you called us here?” the spokesman for the Fae Council boomed.

“I think it’s time I presented to you Dylan Sample, my husband.”

“You brought him here? The human who drew you out of hiding?”

“I didn’t draw out anyone,” Dylan said. “Andria came out of hiding on her own.”

Andria squeezed his hand. “He was just himself, and so was I. And it worked out fine. That’s the point I’ve been trying to make.”

And at last it came… Victoria’s last day of school.

The afternoon was filled with a huge award ceremony for her class, where she received honors for her grades and for her work in shop club.

“Wow. I think that was the most boring ceremony our school has ever thrown,” Winston said. “At least I caught up on my sleep.”

Andria nudged Victoria as they left. “It looks like Gamora might have taken an interest in your prom date,” she said quietly.

Victoria grinned. “That’s great, Mom. Better her than me.”

It was hard to believe it. School was out for the term, and she would never have to go back. Her birthday was almost here.

———-

I did it!! With no time to spare! (Actually, I wrote the last two posts in one day and scheduled this one to post the next day.)

Gamora did her homework with Kain McWilliams autonomously here, and she’s rolled a wish to ask for his Sign. I don’t think they have any heart-farts for each other, though.

There was no particular plot reason to include pics of Winston doing yoga. I’ve just had that piece of CC for ages, and Winston seems like he’d enjoy it.

I feel like I really neglected the thread of the fae in hiding and Dylan feeling left out of this part of his family. After his tired during Andria’s midlife crisis, I figured she’d want to get him more involved, but I didn’t manage to actually DO it until they were both Elders. Ah, well.

Dylan and Andria have been released to autonomy most of the time, since they’ve completed all their game goals. They spend most of their time romancing each other in weird places. So you have that to look forward to in the next generation 😉

Also, the Ambitions Medical career clinics are the best thing EVAR.

“This is a mess!” Dylan shouted.

“I told you not to go in the bathroom!” Victoria called back. “I’m fixing it, I swear!”

“And now Connery needs a bath too! I don’t even want to know what he’s rolling in.”

“Oh, Dylan, you’re being so… Dylan,” Andria said. “Give the kid a break.”

“My apologies,” Dylan said. “A big mess like this makes me a little unhinged.”

“You’re cute when you’re unhinged,” Andria said.

“Mom! Dad! Could you go somewhere else!” Victoria said. “I need to fix the bathtub.”

After she fixed the bathtub for the second time, Victoria return to work on the stereo, which was staunchly refusing to be repaired.

That went about as expected.

Dylan was still cleaning the floor in the bathroom,

so Victoria had to clean off upstairs.

She was really starting to hate that stereo.

The Samples extended clan decided to do something different for Snowflake Day this year — a family reunion at the festival park.

The day dawned bleakly overcast and snowing heavily, with the potential of a serious storm later. After a quick conference by telephone tree (because Dylan had never been comfortable with email), everyone decided to head to Little Cottage Park and hope for the best.

Victoria pulled Edmund onto the skating rink.

With mixed results.

For both of them.

Winston expressed his feelings about the weather in a more passive-aggressive way.

Gamora, on the other hand, wasn’t terribly interested in family reunions. She had different plans for Snowflake Day.

She’d found a chemical compound that she could use to treat raw eggs that made them bond with the surface they touched.

Her victim would have to have his door sanded and repainted to get them out.

Even better, her victim turned out to be home. She’d like to claim that the egg that hit him in the face was intentional, but he just managed to open the door at just the right time….

She did manage to throw a couple of eggs into his foyer. That was a bonus.

“What can I do to get you to leave me alone!!” Whitney shouted.

“Oh, you can’t do anything,” Gamora said. “I’ll stop when I’m done with you. Don’t hold your breath.”

Whitney called the cops, of course, but Gamora was safe at home by then.

When she returned home from her mischief, Sawyer was happy to see her. “I hope you’ve had a nice Snowflake Day,” he said. “Social custom dictates that we spend the day bonding.”

Sawyer would probably appreciate her project to punish sims who had hurt him, but Gamora deemed it prudent not to let him know when she broke the law. So she just smiled. “Sure, Dad. What did you have in mind?”

“Have you ever tried a mind meld?” Sawyer asked. “I haven’t tried one in years.”

“Never heard of it,” Gamora said, “but I’m willing to try.”

“I have been really lax with your television education,” Sawyer said. “Remind me to remedy that.”

“Huh,” Gamora said. “I don’t get it.”

“It used to work better than that,” Sawyer admitted with a scowl.

So they played chess instead. That was something they could both appreciate.

The Sample extended family arrived at Little Cottage, starting with Dylan’s cousin Gina Sample-Baerwyn.

She brought her little daughter Leona, who she was raising alone after her boyfriend’s sudden death. She wasn’t interested in talking about the tragedies of her life, but she was delighted with her daughter.

Uncle Stanley Marmalade, Aunt Abby’s half-brother, was also there. He technically didn’t share any blood with Dylan’s family due to Grandma Sky’s messed-up relationships, but nobody really cared.

Stanley was there alone. He was full of stories about his sons and bleary-eyed from new baby sleep. Andria found him sitting outside in the snow and had to pull him inside.

His partner Jody was home with their school-aged son Chauncey and new baby boy Sidney.

“I know what we all need!” Winston declared. “Hot cocoa! I brought my own cocoa beans. I want to try out a new recipe.”

While Winston was preparing his concoction and nobody was watching, Edmund made snow angles outside.

“Wow!” Victoria said. “I never knew hot cocoa could taste so good!”

“Thanks!” Winston said. “I think I’ll add more cinnamon next time.”

“This really is amazing,” Dylan said. “It’s good to get us all together. I wish Abby and Chaim could have made it”

“I married into an amazing family,” Andria said with a smile.

“Of course you did,” Dylan said with a twinkle in his eye. “You married me!”

———-

And the race is on to finish Gen 6 before the end of the year. One more post to go! Can I do it??