Round 1: Busto

1ST SPRING, YEARS 1-6

Inhabitants:

Howie Busto: Elder Fortune, LTW: Own 5 Top Level Businesses - Leo

Hedwig Busto: Teen Popularity, LTW: Become Mayor - Gemini

Rufus Busto: Child - Scorpion

Well, it has been a while since I last posted anything. I will blame it on school which kept me really, really busy.

I actually played this lot already in August but just didn't have the time to write it. Let's see if I can make any sense out of my notes.. If not, well then, things get interesting :D

Standing on the pavement, Howie Busto is looking at his two children happily chatting away. He isn't the most handsome, nor the nicest guy out there, but he had managed to woo a lady rather late in his life, resulting in two children, Hedwig and Rufus. Unfortunately, Howie's wife died recently under suspicious circumstances, and Howie suspected it had something to do with a bitter 'friend' that had lost everything when their shared firm went bankrupt. So Howie decided to run away with his children to start a new life somewhere far away. It might have had something to do with the fact that his friend was severely injured in an accident at about the same time, and that Howie didn't want to stick around to deal with the consequences, too.
Thus here they are, standing in front of their new home, ready to begin their new lives.

Hedwig wasn't too happy when she heard about the move because she had to leave all her friends behind, but she really had no other choice than to follow his dad. She really hopes she can make some friends in this new town too, or else she fears she will never become the mayor she wants to be. Fortunately, in the sim world, the looks don't really matter.
She doesn't look that bad with some make up on, right..? :D And how is she already best friends with the-boy-whose-name-I-don't-remember?

Rufus hates probably the most the fact that they have almost nothing in their new house, in addition to them being dirt poor - they only have 5$ left after the move. Oh, how he misses his toys and books and all the electronic gadgets he used to have.. Luckily Rufus has a big sister who's willing to play with him, or else he thinks he might just die of boredom.

And Rufus isn't exaggerating when it comes to their house: they really have nothing else than the bare necessities because Howie wanted to invest in a big house rather than in furniture and such.

Watching his children play, Howie, too, begins to long for company, and since he doesn't know that many people, he decides to call James Jenkins whom he met recently at the boy's house. Sadly, James isn't home at the moment because he has school, so that leaves Howie with no one to talk to. He can't help but think of his late wife and how much he misses her company.

In the meantime, Rufus and Hedwig are still busy playing with one another - until the paperboy arrives, that is. The play comes to an abrupt end when Hedwig notices the boy and rushes to greet him. For Rufus, all the spinning was just too much, and he bends on his knees to throw up next to the mail box.
In the background, Howie scans through the vacancies on the freshly delivered newspaper - as a Fortune sim, their financial situations upsets him, not to mention the horrendous state of their home.

He applies for a job in Medicine as an Emergency Medical Technician even though it doesn't pay that well - yet. Howie knows that once he manages to earn a couple of promotions, the salary will be much better. Moreover, it doesn't hurt that doctors are usually respected among others.

Hedwig doesn't waste any time getting to know the cute paperboy, Terho Viljakainen, after he's done with delivering the paper. She tells him all about their fancy new home with all the modern conveniences, which, of course, is a lie. The boy can see that she's talking nonsense, the home only having one window and clearly being unfinished, but decides not to say anything about it and let the girl talk. Though the boy is being really nice and they have no trouble chatting, Hedwig doesn't feel any deeper connection with him - they only have one bolt.

After the paperboy excuses himself from the lot, on seeing his brother's sad little face, Hedwig proceeds to try and cheer him up by tickling him. Rufus appreciates his sister's gesture, but he really doesn't feel like smiling. Life just seems too unfair at the moment for him to feel happy.

Rufus is very grateful of her sister who is his only friend in the new neighbourhood, but he knows that Hedwig can't be there all the time, tickling and spinning him around, so he really wishes he had a pet - a cat or a dog, a puppy or an adult, it didn't matter, he just has to have one!

Unfortunately, a pet isn't where Howie wants to invest in so he tries to reason with his youngest child. Rufus, however, is having none of it: he doesn't want a stupid sculpture, he wants a real living and breathing animal!

Hedwig wants to help out with their poor financial situation and applies for a job in Science as a Lab Glass Scrubber. It's not much, and the job description really doesn't appeal to her, but it's all she could get.

To get started with earning the simoleons, Howie decides to give all he's got in the form of.. rapping? Even though it was no good for almost anything else than embarrassing himself, Howie at least discovers his OTH of Dance and Music while rapping.

Also, Hedwig and Rufus get a great source of entertainment out of their dad rapping rather pathetically.

It doesn't take long for the welcome wagon to start knocking on the Bustos' door. And apparently the elderly of Prosperity Fellowship have formed a welcoming group from where they choose three people to greet the newcomers, since the welcome wagons always consists of elders only.

Hedwig isn't too thrilled with all the old people on their lawn so she finds something else to do - like jumping rope on their porch. While at it, Hedwig discovers that she really enjoys working out.

Ramsey Brooks and Hilda Schurzenjager stay on the lawn to watch Howie show off his skills, or more like the lack of them. Ramsey thinks that he really stinks, and Hilda is busy booing him.
Howie's hygiene bar was almost full by the way, so Ramsey's not doing that expression because of Howie literally stinking.

Soon all the people on the lot have something to do, and little Rufus even discovers his OTH of Sports.

Unfortunately for Hedwig, she can't stay any longer, because her carpool arrives honking impatiently. Hedwig doesn't feel prepared enough, she didn't even have time to get to the bottom of test tube scrubbing!

More the merrier, right? At least that's how Howie's thinking, greeting the teenage passer-by who introduces himself as Alvi Vuotala. He also remembers how upset Hedwig was about having to leave all her friends when they moved to this new neighbourhood, so Howie hopes this nice looking boy could maybe befriend her daughter.

Taking a leaf out of his dad's book, Rufus greets the next passer-by that being the notorious Romance sim Maaret Töllönen. They greet with a high five, and for a Romance sim, Maaret seems to get along with Rufus just fine.

It doesn't take long, however, for the atmosphere to go south, and for the insulting to begin. This time it's Hilda and Ramsey who start the hating. There's something very wrong with Prosperity Fellowship.

The others do a marvellous job at ignoring the two on the warpath, engaging in tossing a tennis ball.

A Romance sim can only play with a child for so long, therefore Rufus has to find someone else to play with. Luckily for him, their street seems to be really busy today, people walking past the house left and right. Rufus stops a nice looking lady in white clothes called Raisa Hakko and asks her to toss the ball with him, and she kindly agrees.

Rufus, however, isn't the nicest boy to toss a ball with. Having gotten the mean character from his father, he likes to toss the ball hard. In the face.

Just to show you that the hating is still going strong..

All the guests are still there when Hedwig gets back home from her work. She makes a beeline for Alvi, but much to her chagrin, Alvi doesn't appreciate her ideas to increase the use of fossil fuels when she becomes the mayor of Prosperity Fellowship. Well, maybe Hedwig should listen to the boy if she ever wishes to become the leader of this town.

A little insulted by Alvi's comments, Hedwig gives him a rough noogie and teases him about his wussy eco-friendliness. How nice of you Hedwig, showing off your mean side.

Alvi isn't one to get picked on without fighting back, so he in return goes and insults Hedwig's intelligence, saying a person as dumb as her will never become the mayor of this town. Hedwig, obviously, is not in the least bit amused. I mean, how dares he?!

Nevertheless, he does have some strong arguments that make Hedwig reconsider her approach on fossil fuels and whether they are as great as she thought they were.

Still, Hedwig can't let the boy get away with his outrageous behaviour, no matter how well he arguments! So she sets him straight on just how she feels about him and pokes him in the chest to intensify her point.

With four people fighting with each other - yes, Hilda and Ramsey are still at it, chasing one another to poke and insult -, the atmosphere has turned really hostile. It doesn't seem to bother Raisa Hakko, though, because she can't stop thinking of Hedwig and how gorgeous she looks like when she's angry.
Really, that woman was constantly thinking of Hedwig and she's bisexual. However, I don't have any mods to allow teen-adult relationships, so I wonder how she formed such an obsession with Hedwig..

Hilda and Ramsey just keep slapping and poking each other until they get into a real fight, ending in Ramsey getting his butt kicked. The Bustos and other guests aren't impressed with their inappropriate behaviour and boo them during their fight.

The fight provokes Hedwig to pick on Alvi even more, until Siba Cooprider, one of their neighbours, rushes between the two teenagers and tries to get Hedwig to cool down and let the boy be.

It works, and Hedwig heads inside to tuck his little brother into his bed. The poor little kid, slightly shaken by the events of the day, has nightmares of his family going to prison after they get into a big fight with the neighbours.

Too bad Siba wasn't able to talk sense into Hilda and Ramsey, because they get into another fight that lasts for two long hours. (Seriously, how is that even possible?) After the fight finally ends and Hilda kicks Ramsey's butt for the second time, the other guests are too tired to even react anymore.

The next morning, Hedwig doesn't even have the time to dress up when she notices the paperboy, Terho, on their porch. Hedwig really wants to have friends, and though Terho doesn't strike her that way, it doesn't stop them from getting to know each other better. Maybe some day, they can even become the best of friends, Hedwig thinks to herself.

This time, Hedwig tries another approach with the fossil fuels by suggesting that their usage should be decreased, and to her great delight, Terho couldn't agree more. They have time to get into a deep discussion about alternative energy sources before Hedwig has to go to school.

Howie has to run to his carpool, because he was almost late on his first day of work! The fact that his carpool is a real ambulance lifts his spirits which already makes him forget the stress that he had time to build up in his head thinking that he is going to be late from work.

Hedwig brings an exchange student Artemis Rantu home from school on the first day in her new school, staying true to her Popularity aspiration. She really wants to have as many friends as possible, so she starts bonding with Artemis immediately, and the red headed girl doesn't object to Hedwig's intentions.

What better way to get to know someone than to gossip with them about the undertakings of the neighbours? Maybe the juicy gossip going around gets Ramsey to think twice the next time he feels like fighting with someone, and he should think about his health too - it can't be good for you to get your butt kicked so many times.

She doesn't get to gossip with Artemis for too long, though, because Hedwig has to go to work. His father, being the charming man he is, convinced the carpool driver to drive her daughter to the science center which is right next to the hospital.

Rufus is really attached to that tennis ball of his: he carries it everywhere he goes, and seizes every opportunity he gets to toss it with someone. Straight after getting home from school he searches for someone to play with, that someone being Artemis this time.

Things aren't going too well for Hedwig at work: he loses the pay of the day because she didn't dare to interfere with the professor's work even though she should have. How could she have known that the professor is known for being absentminded and that tiny heads should never be left to boil through the night?
On top of that, she manages to catch the flu that's going around at the science center.

The relationship between Howie and his children has never been something to brag about, it was more his wife taking care of the house and the children and him taking care of his firm. But now that she is no longer with them, the kids need to rely on one another more than before.
That evening, Hedwig is able to find time to help his little brother with his homework, but ends up doing hers all alone.

It's only at midnight that Hedwig even has time to make something to eat for herself.

It's Wednesday morning, and Rufus feels like starting it with a nice session of jumping rope. He's not alone though, as Artemis, who refused to go home and decided to stick around a while longer, watches him.

Artemis is still there when Hedwig comes home from school. She's somewhat confused by her friend's behaviour, but decides not to point it out because she really doesn't want to be alone in their big and bare house. In addition to that, Hedwig's feeling pretty happy now that her flu is gone!

After the short game of red hands with Artemis, Hedwig hurries to check if there's any vacancies in Politics just as she hears her carpool honking on the driveway. Unfortunately, she's out of luck, and has to stick to her lousy job for at least one more day.

Howie is faring a lot better and manages to get a promotion to a Paramedic. With the money from the bonus they are finally able to purchase some wallpaper and flooring and even install a couple more windows!

What Howie doesn't want in his freshly improved house is homeless people taking advantage of them, so he tells Artemis to leave before he calls the cops. She doesn't.

Now that Howie's finally alone - or that's how he thinks -, he begins to study the most common diseases and how to diagnose them in hopes of getting another promotion soon.

The Bustos have heard from other residents of Prosperity Fellowship that Public Lake is a great place to spend time in with your family and friends and also to meet new people. Since they have some spare time on their hands in the evening, they decide to check it out.

At first, Hedwig tries to make the most of the visit by meeting as many new people as possible, but ends up playing with his brother after all. She isn't even that keen on getting to know the people at the lake: to be honest, they seem quite boring to her, although the men would really like to get to know Hedwig.

Howie, on the other hand, is more than eager to meet some new people. He feels he's finally ready to move on and get back into the dating game. What is more, now he can even invite the possible date over because the house doesn't look like a shack!

What catches Howie's attention is a rather cute-looking woman by the pond, so he tries to impress the woman by greeting her with kisses on her cheeks like a classy gentleman.

The woman, Marianne Hamara, turns out to be a great person to spend time with - Howie can even discuss business with her and she understands everything he's saying and even shocks him by giving Howie some advice. The two really hit it off - they have 2 bolts - and spend the whole evening chatting.

After spending a good many hours tossing the ball with his sister, Rufus can barely keep his eyes open. With drooping eyelids, he crawls into a tent and falls asleep almost immediately. If he only knew what was minutes away from happening in that same tent between Marshall and Moira just recently..

Hedwig remarks that her father is once again too busy to take care of his children, so she takes the matters into her own hands and starts preparing some hot dogs they brought with them to the lake.

Eventually, much to Howie's dismay, Marianne has to leave because it's getting quite late and she has an early work morning the next day. Disappointed to see his friend go, Howie goes fishing, planning to call Marianne tomorrow and maybe even ask her out on a date.

Meanwhile, Hedwig's cookings don't go unnoticed by the men at the lake and they are almost all queueing up to greet and thank her for preparing such a delicious meal. Hedwig is a bit overwhelmed, although delighted, by all the attention she's suddenly getting from all these men.

With one of them, that being Gullik Kinnunen (Goopy Carbonara in English, right? :D), she even engages in a rousing conversation about fashion. Although the man doesn't really come across as fashionable, he does know a thing or two about fashion. Hedwig's actually even a little disappointed when Howie announces that it's time to head home, meaning that she has to bid farewell to Gullik.

Back at home, Rufus, feeling too full of energy to sleep, jumps rope and tosses some ball with Artemis (yep, the girl is still there..) for a while to relax before going to bed. Sleeping during the day and staying up so late really doesn't do good for his sleep pattern, but Howie is too ignorant to care and Hedwig was just too tired to act like the parent.

And when Artemis is left alone, she chases the skunk around until she finally gets to pet the animal, smelling so bad that the flies find their way to her even in pouring rain. Seriously Artemis, go home.

In the morning, Hedwig has to skip breakfast in order to have enough time to finish her homework before the school bus arrives. Outside, Rufus continues right from where he left off the night before, tossing the ball once again with Artemis, who still refuses to leave.

Soon after the children have gone to school, a curious looking old lady sneaks on their porch and drops off an old, golden lamp. I wonder what it does..

Howie is too busy to notice irrelevant stuff like that - he's focusing on something far more important. He's feeling courageous enough to invite Marianne over, and even manages to mumble something about a date. But he shouldn't have worried over it: the excited tone in Marianne's voice is more than enough to reveal that she has been waiting for Howie to ask her out.

Feeling a bit nervous, Howie tries to break the ice by telling a joke about ghosts and vampires in a bar, but the joke isn't that good. However, it doesn't make a difference since Marianne finds it rather funny all the same.

It only takes a little flirting between the two of them until they develop a mutual crush. Howie is feeling like the luckiest man alive, and Marianne looks rather happy herself.

From then on they act like a couple of lovesick teenagers, not getting enough of one another. Not everyone appreciates their shared affection, though, as can be seen from the disgusted face of the Bustos' mailman, Pauli Melavirta.
In the background, you can see Artemis doing.. something. I'm not sure whether she's dropping something into the trashcan or taking something out.

The date has to end after a while, however, because Howie knows that Hedwig is soon coming home from school and he doesn't feel like telling her all about his new girlfriend. So they end the dream date - yes, it was considered a dream date even though they didn't even move from the sidewalk - with a passionate kiss and promise to see each other soon.

Speak of the devil, just as Marianne is leaving, the school bus stops in front of the house dropping Hedwig off. Nevertheless, she doesn't notice Marianne leaving because she is busy celebrating the fact that she got a 10 on her report card.


She also brought another exchange student home from school, Liisi Naski, who goes straight to chat with Artemis. Hedwig just hopes she doesn't decide to prolong her visit like Artemis has..

Howie, only just noticing the quite expensive looking golden lamp on their porch, decides to take a closer look at it. Who knows, maybe it's antique and he can sell it for good profit. When he goes to pick it up, however, he almost has a mild heart attack when a genie appears in front of his eyes. What's even more shocking, is that when he jokingly tells the genie to give him loads of money thinking that it must be a prank of some sort, he's almost hit in the head with a giant bag stuffed with simoleons.

He uses almost all of the money on the house, which now finally has wallpaper and flooring in all of the rooms. The genie lamp Howie hides in his room in case he'll need it in the future.

The rest of the money Howie uses to pay the bills and to get started on his first business. He's got to start now if he ever wants to own the five top level businesses he dreams of having someday!

Meanwhile, just as Hedwig is about to go to work, she gets struck by lightning and has to rush to the bathroom instead of going to work. Sadly, she isn't fast enough and pees herself right in front of the toilet. Too ashamed to leave the bathroom, she decides to skip work. Besides, after getting struck by lightning you shouldn't even have to go to work!

Almost like copying her sister, Rufus arrives home with a 10 in his report card and a friend, too. The sweet looking girl is called Nikki Hitula.
I must say, Rufus and Hedwig seem to be really popular at school, bringing friends home with them almost on a daily basis - unlike James Jenkins, who brought nobody, ever.

Even though the two girls got off to a good start, Artemis and Liisi soon find each other intolerable and start insulting one another. And since this is Prosperity Fellowship, where people like to hate and punch, the insulting quickly escalates into a fight which Liisi wins with ease.

To Howie's delight, there's even more money to come! Although the bags aren't as full as the first one was, Howie's so excited by the extra simoleons that he manages to ignore the little girl's 'kind' comment that his nose would look a lot smaller if he was as big as a sumo wrestler.

Suddenly, Artemis and Liisi decide to launch at each other right next to the dinner table where Rufus is trying to enjoy his bowl of cereals. Luckily the fight is soon over with Liisi winning it once again. Now the two girls consider each other enemies and Artemis especially is unimpressed and bitter after having lost two fights in a row.
And what's with Hedwig and Howie cheering them on? I guess I can sort of understand why Howie is cheering because he doesn't really like Artemis, but Hedwig..? They're both your friends, for crying out loud! And apparently Marianne didn't feel like leaving, after all.

I have no words.. At least Howie is looking as happy as ever.

Tired of all the fighting, Rufus calls his friend Nikki, who left earlier the day, to complain about the fighting girls. He can't understand what happened to Artemis who used to be so nice, always playing with him.

After their third fight, Hedwig tries to talk some sense into Artemis at the table, but she is too upset to listen to reason and leaves the table. I guess losing three times in a row really dampens your mood.

Hedwig follows her seeing if she could get through to her but stops in her tracks when Artemis starts playing with the fridge door. She is clearly letting Hedwig know that she doesn't want to hear about it.

Then Hedwig tries a different approach: she tells both the girls that she really likes them and that she thinks of them as one of her best friends, hoping that it would get them to stop fighting. Who knows, maybe they were fighting over her friendship, thinking that Hedwig has room for only one exchange student in her friend list.

Well, it doesn't work.. And for the curious, this time it's Artemis who wins after five freaking hours. Maybe that will satisfy her and get her to stop attacking Liisi - the fighting is getting ridiculous.

Frustrated, Hedwig gives up and goes to her bed, leaving her friends to finish their fight. She believes they are wise enough to go home when they notice that Hedwig is already sleeping, but you can never know..

In the early hours of Friday, Howie comes home with yet another promotion, this time to a Nurse. He's very happy about the promotion but promises to himself to get another promotion as soon as possible, because he doesn't feel like being a nurse fits him all that well.

An hour before the school bus arrives, both Hedwig and Rufus try to catch up on homework, although Rufus is the only one to finish it in time.
And as you can see, Artemis is still there. Won't you go home already?!

The trouble she got into for not having done her homework is soon forgotten because Hedwig is over the moon about the fact that Juha Harjola, yet another exchange student from her school, agrees to pay a visit at her house. Hedwig has really taken a fancy to him: they share 2 bolts.

After an intense session of pillow fighting, her heart pounding in her chest, Hedwig timidly compliments Juha's appearance. When the boy leans closer to whisper in her ear that she doesn't look that bad either, Hedwig has trouble holding back an excited squeal.

Meanwhile, Howie is pampering himself with a bubble bath as a way to reward himself for his promotion. Besides, to be able to take care of others, you have to take care of yourself first, right?

Because they weren't as wise as Hedwig had hoped they would be, both Liisi and Artemis are still there, starting yet another fight. Hedwig has noticed that all the fighting going on in their home has really started to take its toll on Rufus, so she tries to keep his little brother occupied during the fight by dancing with him. She really has to have a serious talk with her friends - she likes them, but not as much as she loves her little brother.

After Hedwig gives the girls a piece of her mind, Artemis finally - and I really mean finally - has the decency to leave! Although happy, Hedwig can't help but be concerned about Artemis. Where will she go now?

Hedwig has finally time to concentrate on Juha now that the fighting has ended. They continue flirting with one another, which deepens their relationship to the point where they are really smitten with each other.

But eventually, all good things must come to an end, and Hedwig has to say a reluctant goodbye to Juha when Howie starts insisting that they go and get started on their new business, the grocery store.
Howie can't hide his excited smile when they arrive at the grocery store he purchased a while ago. It may be small, but it has quality which is more important to him than the size. He can't wait to get started!

Soon, the store is crowded with people from the neighbourhood, and Howie puts his salesman skills to the test. It turns out he isn't half bad. Hedwig is having more trouble as a cashier, though, and the customers don't appreciate the long wait while Hedwig tries to get the hang of the cash register.

Luckily, she's a quick learner and soon enough is awarded with the bronze register talent badge.

Howie is working really hard, selling and restocking, which drains his energy rather quickly. But his effort hasn't gone to waist because he has already earned quite a few loyalty stars with his pleasant behaviour among the customers.

And only seconds after, the loyalty star from Into Marttinen pushes the store to level 1. Close to midnight, Howie decides to call it a day and close the store, pleased with their success, although dead tired.

At home, Howie heads straight to bed and thus misses yet another fight between the guests at their house. This time it's Liisi and Juha fighting each other right next to Hedwig, in the kitchen, while Hedwig is having her midnight snack. They even manage to wake up poor Rufus, who is anything else but impressed with getting woken up and then having to witness the fight.

Hedwig isn't amused either, but manages to put a smile on her face when she says goodbye to both Liisi and Juha. She can't understand what it is that makes her friends want to fight one another and is getting quite sick of it, to put it mildly.

When they all thought that the day was finally over and they could finally get some sleep (including me), a burglar decides to pay them a visit. Fortunately, they have a burglar alarm installed and a police officer arrives in only a few minutes.

The burglar is taken aback by the arrival of the police, but decides it isn't too late to steal stuff anyway. The police officer standing right behind him, he stuffs one of the more expensive chairs in his bag (how, I really don't know).

For some reason the police officer politely waits until the burglar is done stealing the Bustos' property before launching at him in an attempt to arrest the man. Too bad he isn't as strong as the burglar, suffering a humiliating loss and leaving both Rufus and Hedwig mighty unimpressed by him. After beating up the police officer, the burglar runs into the night with the chair in his bag.

In the wee hours of the morning, Marianne also drops by their house to leave Howie an expensive gift as a way to thank him for the lovely date they shared. This night sure is filled with action.

And then, things calm down finally and spring can peacefully come to its end. Hopefully the upcoming summer will be calmer for the Bustos with a lot less fighting.

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No points for the Bustos.

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Whew, I'm finally ready with this chapter! I must say, it was a bit harder to write as it has been so long since I played this family and the notes left a lot to be desired. But I think I fared quite well, after all, or what do you think? :D

I do remember that it was quite nice to play the Bustos, although it took some time to get used to their unique looks. But now that I have, I've got to admit that I find Hedwig rather sweet, actually. I wonder if I'm the only one to think so..

Okay, nothing else to rant about, I just hope you haven't forgotten this story altogether during my absence!