To recap: This is my attempt at a Polyamory Project Challenge, created by princedeej28,

full rules available here. The point of the challenge is to romance more than one Sim and

earn enough points to make Hugh Hefner jealous.

Last time, there were a few romantic interactions (plus points), a lack of woohoo (no

points), and a slapfest where the participants had to stand in line (definitely minus

points). My current total is 290, a whopping 5 point increase over last time. This may be

when I start going backwards, points-wise.

All caught up? Good! Let’s get started.

In non-Bertie news, Beverly has taken to starting cooking fires.

So has her husband.

And Professor Arianna has become an Elder. She Grew Up badly, mostly because I

wasn’t really paying attention to her meter. But she looks good!

As the only person in the house with a doctorate, she often helps Little Bertie with his

homework.

Vanessa has started paying more attention to Little Bertie now that he’s older, although

it’s not necessarily useful attention. For example, this was supposed to be Help Albert

With Homework. But it is nice to have someone pay attention to you.

As you may recall, last chapter ended badly. That’s why this van is now a regular visitor

to Casa Sanders.

Who could keep kicking over the trash can so much? Every time I turn around, it’s lying

on its side and sending out green fumes.

Who indeed?

ROBERT: Thanks for coming to help, Dad.

KOMEI TELLERMAN: Ach, it is no trrrouble to help out my son. (hopefully) Do dey

haff a gnome? If dey haff a gnome I will take it away from dem…

ROBERT: Yeah, I know, Dad. I’ve seen your collection. But they haven’t got a gnome.

KOMEI TELLERMAN (mournfully): Oh well. We will just kick over deir trrrash can,

den.

Robert still lives on campus, so we can’t get to him readily. But I’m sure you know what

the name of this game is.

You know the thing about playing games, though?

Sometimes you lose.

It’s the bands ‘round my heart

That keep it from breaking

That keep it from knowing

The absence of you

Bertie tried going out with friends.

It’s the bands ‘round my heart

They’re made of cold metal

They keep me from knowing

The absence of you

It worked for a little while.

But then he had to go home.

So I made an executive decision. The rules for this challenge were written in 2005, well

before Seasons, with its strawberry juice, or before Free Time, with its Smooth Talk

option. (Not that I can use that, due to having a Mac.) But the challenge was also written

before Nightlife and its Furious Meter.

Now, I think that simply having Bertie go to the store and buy some strawberries to make

strawberry juice would be cheating. But an alert reader pointed out that the Smooth Talk

perk, which does the same thing, has to be earned – it’s not just handed to you. (Not in

those words, exactly…) I thought that if Bertie worked hard enough, he could probably

grow some Mouthwatering strawberries. If he grows enough that he can get the option to

serve strawberry juice, I reckon that it would be fair to use it. I am going to say that they

do have to be Mouthwatering, though – Tasty strawberries will often have the same

effect, but it’s too easy to grow those if you have a greenhouse.

Just the bands ‘round my heart

That keep it from breaking

That keep it from hurting

The absence of you

And here is where I will leave you, with a picture of the one romantic interaction I

managed to fit in this whole round. In addition to everyone starting out Furious at

everyone else, they all work the same hours, so there’s very little privacy.

The song this time around is “The Absence of You,” and it’s TM, copyright, patent

pending and all rights reserved by yours truly. (As per usual.) Thanks to wonderfulweirdo

for the inspiration!

Until next time, Happy Simming!

Score for this round

Assorted romantic interactions x 1: 5

TOTAL: 5

Score as of last round: 290

GRAND TOTAL: 295

Relationship standings (Daily/Lifetime)

Albert > Bertie: 62/64. Best friends.

Albert > Corey: 82/74. Best friends.

Albert > Robert: 9/11

Albert > Vanessa: 92/94. Best friends.

Bertie > Albert: 94/6. Best friends.

Bertie > Corey: 92/87. Married.

Bertie > Robert: 84/81. Love.

Bertie > Vanessa: 98/100. Love.

Corey > Albert: 100/99. Best friends.

Corey > Bertie: 22/10. Portrait is 1/2 red. Married.

Corey > Robert: 9/9

Corey > Vanessa: 69/68. Portrait is 1/4 red. Friends.

Vanessa > Albert: 80/80. Best friends.

Vanessa > Bertie: 98/98. Love.

Vanessa > Corey: 95/95. Friends.

Vanessa > Robert: 0/0