All the grown-ups were preparing for the wake, scurrying around, getting dressed, and Desmond was free to be sad without having to talk to anyone.
Before they brought in the piano, Elise had seen him crying, but she hadn't said anything to him.
Alexander had quietly stood and stared at their father's urn, from across the room, before the guests arrived.
Once everyone arrived, there was an odd busy-ness, people coming and going, chatting and laughing, then suddenly going quiet.
Even though Bella had hired a bartender, he didn't seem to take the job very seriously, so she ended up serving guests while Elise worked on her extra credit, without being asked. Of course, Elise always did her extra credit without being asked.
Eliza Pancakes said something inappropriate to Alexander. For a prim and proper person, she certainly didn't ascribe to the idea that the true purpose of good manners was putting others at ease.
Bella had hired Bob Pancakes to cater, but he wasn't doing his job, either, so Delaney quickly baked a cake.
Ewan, who was usually virtually a recluse, was telling jokes to his cousin Cassandra and some of the guests, including Mr. Lothario and Mr. Hammond.
Thankfully, Ryleigh also started helping Delaney and Bella, because Bob Pancakes, the caterer, did nothing but eat.
He didn't even offer any sympathy to Bella, in her loss.
Alexander looked like he was going to say something to Bob, but he never did.
Someone had taken it upon himself to cheer Desmond, and was telling him jokes in Elise's room.
Alexander learned that Rianna has an evil streak.
Most of the guests stayed in the kitchen. No one ventured out to look at Mortimer's urn.
Elise and Rianna conversed for quite a while.
And, with the rented piano just sitting there, unused, Ewan took the opportunity to play the piano for the first time.
By the time guests were leaving, Alexander had had enough, was feeling peeved, and was angrily spraying the bushes.
Only Cassandra, Delaney, and Elise were left in the kitchen. Delaney called a maid service to come in the next day, too tired to deal with the mess.
And took off for a jog, instead. She always felt better after a jog, and she needed a little more improvement in her fitness, to be eligible for the promotion to the top rank in the Space Ranger career.
Maddi came in to the house that night, Confident from viewing Delaney's new statue.
And Bella went to bed without even changing out of her clothes. Alone.
I let everyone interact pretty much autonomously at the wake; there was so much going on anyway.
Notes & Outtakes:
WHOA! I just found out that Mortimer and Eliza were lovebirds. Here I was, concerned about Bella's side flirtations, and all the time Mortimer was carrying on a romantic relationship with Eliza Pancakes. I learned this after writing this post, while making my sims data spreadsheet. I was checking each character's relationship panels for friends, enemies, romantic interests, and there in Eliza's, it says "Lovebirds," under Mortimer Goth! I wonder what she said to Alexander during the wake. I just caught in Alexander's queue something like, "react to inappropriate comment," and showed Eliza.
Mortimer also apparently made a pass at Ryleigh at some point, or vice versa, because they have a romantic interest relationship bar, although it reads, "Just Friends." That means there was at least one attempt at a romantic interaction at some point.
Bella got in a flirty mood after the wake.
Right after Mortimer's death, when she was "crying it out" in the bed, she wanted to "Become Flirty."
About the strange guy telling Desmond jokes in Elise's room: I wish EA would tune the gameplay so that grown-ups that aren't in the family wouldn't go into kids' rooms. It drives me nuts, especially since I teach safety curriculum at school that includes, don't be alone without your grown-up buddy (parent or trusted adult).
I love watching all the autonomous interaction. Often I'm happiest when I can just be an observer :).
ReplyDeleteI can see that Bella is really struggling. She looks like she wants to drown her grief in a rebound relationship. And who knew about Mortimer! Wow! Perhaps we should just say that Eliza was an old flame. Though that inappropriate remark does make one wonder. I'd rather think the best of Mortimer.
So, you can hire bartenders/caterers? Or was that just a story explanation?
That's how I was picturing Bella, too, her way of coping with grief.
DeleteIt was fun watching everyone, what they did on free will. (Although I directed Delaney to cook to help the party score).
It's possible that the Lovebirds status is a remnant of how their relationship was set the way the game shipped, since I started over with Delaney in a new hood. Not to reflect badly on Mortimer, but I think relationships decay A LOT faster than that. Friendships and romantic relationships decay really fast, and if it decayed I don't think it would read "Lovebirds," I think that is a current sort of status.
For a social event, you can hire a bartender, a caterer, and an entertainer, and Bella did hire all three. But none of them did their job this time.
Oh, I see. That makes for potentially very interesting parties -- though better if the hired sims do their jobs.
DeleteHeh. The romantic relationship thing is very different from Sims 3. I think romantic interests stay that way until there's an explicit, "Let's just be friends," interaction. In fact, poor Fabian got nailed for cheating because of a romantic interest he had left over from before he married Zahra -- after they got married, had a child, and the child aged to a toddler. The cheating system was new back then, and I failed to notice the little heart beside her face in his relationships view.
Oh, Mortimer.
I just glanced back at this post and thought, "Poor Desmond!" I hope he and Bella can comfort each other.
Yes, I hope Bella and Desmond can help each other through this too. Desmond came and spent the day (sim day) today over at Delaney's, playing with Ewan.
DeleteI've heard people complain that the relationships decay too quickly in Sims 4. It is more work to keep them up. Poor Fabian, getting in trouble for something he did before! The game worked against him there, so unfair!
Romantic Interest is the status label for early flirtation. Lovebirds is 25-50 on the romance meter, so it takes a little work. There's only one label above it, Lovers, unless the sims are also friends, and then they can be sweethearts or soulmates.
Free will does usually bring about some weirdness or amusement, if you let it go long enough. I'm normally too impatient and too much of a control freak to do it though!
ReplyDeleteWell, well, well, Mortimer! I wouldn't have picked it, I have to say. ;) Maybe Eliza was hinting at their dalliance to Alexander?
EA have always had some sort-of-creepy child-adult interactions in game. Remember how the child townies in TS2 would continually call adult sims, even when they were supposed to be in school? Super weird.
Me too, usually a control freak!! That's probably why Mortimer/Eliza and some of the other romantic things going on behind the scenes really surprised me, lol.
DeleteI think Eliza, who is a materialistic neat perfectionist with a fortune aspiration, was after Mortimer's money.
Yes, I do remember the child townies in Sims 2 always calling adults. Definitely weird. My daughter said I should have had someone go in there and fuss at the guy, but I didn't even think of that at the time. That would have been interesting.
Thanks for reading,Carla, and commenting!
Seems like all the hired staff were complete duds, that's unfortunate seeing as the household wanted to mourn and mingle with the visitors. Poor Desmond and Alexander, and wowee with Mortimer! I'm not too surprised, he always seemed like a guy who enjoyed the ladies (not necessarily your version of Mortimer, just my preconceived notions of the sim). Peculiar that Bella was crying it out in bed and wanting to become flirty.
ReplyDeleteAnd yeah the adult-child interactions are sometimes odd, but if there is one thing you can count on with sims, it is their lack of acknowledgement in relation to boundaries.
I suspected Bob Pancakes may not make a good Caterer since he's a Loner and Slob (can't remember his other trait). But since he's semi-playable, I thought it would be great to include him and I hoped he would do a good job anyway since he likes to cook. However, I am not making that mistake again. As for the entertainer, I think there was /is a glitch right now that messes up the hired help at parties. Most of my sims do their own (Like Dante, Ryleigh's husband, is a spectacular caterer) but he didn't show up as available when Bella arranged this party. I did like the Black & White for a funeral party; I thought everyone looked pretty appropriate for me not having to go around and make sure they were dressed well before the party.
DeleteVery well said, the sims do have a lack of acknowledgement to boundaries-- that is how they are programmed.
Thanks for commenting!