T w e n t y S i d e d

The year is 2000, Lorretta Whitman is 55 years old, and she has just inherited 1605 Cottonview Lane, the house built by her grandparents in the early ’20s. She is going twice a week to Jimbo’s apartment to cook, clean, and help keep his medications organized for him.

He thinks it’s pity, but she’s worried it’s selfish. She doesn’t want to be at home. Home is quiet, and a little unsettling. She and her husband have two daughters who have now gone off to university. With the girls gone, it’s been hard for her to ignore the growing sense of distance and resentment she shares with the man she married. Instead, she has thrown herself into as many little jobs as she can.
Continue reading ⟩⟩ “Sims 4 Overthinking: Good Bones”

Bay Jubilee Oldest child of Shamus Young. They/Them

The last time we checked in on the Smith family, Jimbo had taken over the family home despite it not belonging to him. He smoked, and had ill-kept cats, and allowed the place to be covered in tar, dust, mildew, and cat pee. Eventually, he began just leaving the back door open a crack so his animals could come and go as they pleased. This led to him getting more and more pets, as the smell of cat food drew in more felines; along with the occasional raccoon. The population boomed with the family home as the epicenter. To him, a lonely old man this meant he usually had someone to watch the news with in his old recliner. To the neighborhood, it meant bird populations plummeted and cat fights were constant. The local trap-neuter-return program couldn’t keep up and the area became known for its strays.

In 1990, where we left off, Jimbo was 70. We’re going to jump forward in decades now, rather than twenty years at a time, since things are going to pick up a bit for a while. Bringing us, finally, to the year 2000. Jimbo didn’t care much about Y2K, but he did pull his money out of the bank just in case. He’s 80 now, living in a house that isn’t his and mostly trying to slip under the radar with his family.
Continue reading ⟩⟩ “Sims 4 Overthinking: Not with a Bang”

Bay Jubilee Oldest child of Shamus Young. They/Them

Last week, Jimbo, the youngest son of the Smith family, redid the entire house. He outfitted the place with cutting-edge designs like animal print carpets and wood panel walls. His reasoning was that it would ultimately up the property value, and give his mom an excellent place to spend her advancing years. Obviously, from his work, he ended up blinded by what turned out to be a vanity project along the way. His sister ended up taking up the housework he was supposed to do, and his mother ended up resenting his help more than appreciating it. It’s tricky, disliking something that someone is doing to help you. On the one hand, they’re putting in time and resources, on the other, she didn’t ask for it.

Jumping forward another 20 years, we’re in 1990. Mrs. Smith is gone. She was moved into hospice care in her nineties and expected not to last a month. Jimbo was left housesitting while Mom was in the home, and all the kids visited frequently knowing they didn’t have long with her. Much to their, and the nurses’ surprise, she lived another five years. She got to meet her first great-grandbaby, spite a doctor she really hated, and see New Coke fail before she died. She went happy, and a little glad she didn’t have to go in her newfangled decorated house.
Continue reading ⟩⟩ “Sims 4 Overthinking: Legal Issues”

Bay Jubilee Oldest child of Shamus Young. They/Them