The Sims 2 Presents: Foster's Valley!

[duck2k]

Yeah I can see Frankie yelling, "WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS SELLOUT!":wiltshock:

[Imaginary Light]

OH, SNAP!

That was my inititial reaction.

[xxxClaire]

Damn, poor Frankie.

This is exciting, nice work Cass! :D

(And yay, Wilt thinks I'm funny! :D)

[antgirl1]

Oooooooh. Busted. Now I'm glad I'm not there. XD

[Lynnie]

I'm trying so hard to fight the guilt at watching the show now. I respect them all too much! :o

Yes, it has hit the fan now! Poor Frankie. This is turning into a TV show in itself. ;) Can't wait for the next installment.

[Cassini90125]

My thanks, as always, to those who commented. It's always nice to hear a few words of appreciation. :frankiesmile:

Foster's Valley - "Secrets revealed"

(Warning: long post ahead)

Madame Foster was up the stairs in no time; not an easy thing to do at her age. She was confronted by a very angry-looking Frankie and knew immediately that she was in trouble. "You called, dear?" she said in a nervous voice. Frankie didn't say a word; she simply pointed at the painting. "Oh, my, isn't that nice?" Madame Foster said. "Did one of our lovely hosts do that? It's very good, everyone looks so cheerful." Frankie again didn't say a word; she held up the Season 2 DVD case barely six inches from her grandmother's face. "Oh. Frankie, I can explain-"
"WHAT. DID. YOU. DO?!?!" Frankie was clearly upset:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/Cassini90125/qw18.jpg

"Frankie, please understand, I did this for the House-"
"You traded the stories of our lives for the House?? This had better be good, Grandma, this had better be real good!"
At that point Wilt and Mr. Herriman showed up. "Is everything okay?" Wilt asked. "What's going on here?" Mr. Herriman added.
Again, Frankie pointed to the painting and held up the DVD case. "Our lives have been animated and put on public display," she growled. She directed their attention to the TV. "See for yourself." Wilt and Mr. Herriman sat and watched in stunned silence as the events of Where There's A Wilt There's A Way unfolded before their eyes:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/Cassini90125/qw19.jpg

"But... a lot of that never happened!" Wilt said, distraught. "You can't do all of that in the space of one basketball game! And I'm not an astronaut or a dentist!"
"Well, perhaps now you all understand how I felt when that video of me entertaining my creator was posted on the web!" said Mr. Herriman. "Waitaminute... Oh, no, don't tell me they made an episode about that!"
"I don't know," said Frankie. "I don't know how many episodes there are, or what they're about, or how this all happened without us knowing about it, but we're going to find out! Aren't we, Grandma?!"
Madame Foster sighed. "It's a long story."
"We have time," Frankie said. "Spill it."
Sparky arrived at that point:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/Cassini90125/qw20.jpg

"Um, you mind if I sit in? I know it's none of my business but I'd like to hear this, too, if nobody minds," she said. "I've been a fan since the show started. We all have; that's why we were so eager to have you come spend the day with us. And Madame Foster, I'm sorry this got out. The painting and the discs were supposed to be put out of sight; I don't know why they weren't."
"It would have gotten out eventually," Madame Foster replied. "No one's to blame for this but me." She shifted gears for a moment, trying to lighten the mood. "So, who's your favorite character?"
"Terrence."
"The Cassiman punk??" Frankie was incredulous. "He's in the show too?"
"Not lately," Sparky said unhappily.
"But why... hold it, Grandma, stop changing the subject!"
"Sorry, dear, just trying to lighten things up a bit."
Wilt excused himself at that point, feeling a need to tell the rest of the IF's what was going on. Eduardo didn't believe him at first:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/Cassini90125/qw21.jpg

"Animated? And on TV? No way!" Wilt did convince him pretty quickly, and Coco, too; feeling rattled, both headed for the bubble blower. Berry giggled and wanted to watch the show; Bendy, still engrossed in Night Of The Living Dead, didn't much care. Wilt was feeling pretty rattled and a little violated himself and needed to talk to someone about everything. Fortunately, this was the Never Forgotten house so there were definitely a few people who might understand what he was going through:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/Cassini90125/qw22.jpg

"It's a really good show," Jekylljuice told him, "and you've got a lot of fans out there, and in here, too. It's something you should be proud of."
"Yeah, maybe, but it was done without me being asked. I'm sorry, but I'm kind of a private person; I mostly keep things in and don't tell the world about my life. Now a lot of it is on TV. Madame Foster should have asked me first, I wouldn't have liked it but I wouldn't have said no."
"You never do," smiled xxxClaire.
"Never been able to. Hey, how'd you know... oh, yeah. I guess we've both seen Where There's A Wilt There's A Way now." A little laughter, a little healing. Upstairs, Lynnie joined the group; there wasn't any laughing going on as Madame Foster told her story:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/Cassini90125/qw23.jpg

"It all started about five years ago. The House has always been short of money, and as you can imagine the bills are huge, what with all the residents we had. After the incident with the Imaginary Klingons-"
"Imaginary Klingons??" said Lynnie.
"Yes. Some Trekkie kid created them. Two months later another Trekkie kid adopted them. In the meantime they broke things while playing 'Capture the Mugato'. They decided Eduardo was the Mugato, whatever that is (http://www.70disco.com/startrek/mugato.htm), and terrorized the poor dear, and you know how he gets when he panics. After we paid the repair bills we barely had enough money to stay afloat. One day while I was at the mall I met a man named Craig McCracken, who it turned out was working for Cartoon Network. We chatted for a bit and ended up having lunch together. He told me that he was working on a new show for CN, a show focusing on Imaginary Friends, so I told him about Foster's and what we do. He was fascinated by the stories I told him and it hit me that they might make for good TV. And a good bit of money from the royalty checks. It took me quite awhile to convince him that the show he wanted to do was in the foster home that I ran but in the end I talked him into it. The problem was that I knew no one in the House would want a bunch of animators and writers following them around, asking personal questions and telling them to hold still while being sketched. The 'being on TV' part would be even worse; the shyer IF's, not to mention private people like you, Frankie, and Wilt and my dear Mr. Herriman, would never have agreed to it."
"True," said Frankie. "There's a reason it's called a 'private' life, Grandma."
"I know. But we needed the money so bad. What's more, Craig was on a deadline and I didn't have time to tell him all the stories I knew. That's when it occurred to me that everything he needed to make a show about us was on the House security tapes."
"You sold our security tapes to cartoon people??"
"I did. I asked him to please not go into too many background details or personal stuff but other than that, do what you want with them. Before I started mailing the tapes to him though I had to figure out how to keep everyone from finding out about it once the show started airing. I was able to convince the IF's that CN wasn't worth watching; I showed Wilt a few episodes of Billy & Mandy and that show with the three boys named Ed and he wrote of CN as having no educational or cultural value. Eduardo, I let him see what was on Adult Swim, and he won't go near CN now. Same with everyone else; I convinced them all that CN wasn't worth watching."
"And what if we went out, hmm, Grandma? How'd you plan to keep us from finding out from someone else's TV?"
"With one exception, that wasn't as big a problem as you might think. Most of our day trips were to the parks or the beaches, places without TV or internet. I kept you from finding out online at home with blocking software and search filters and such. Other trips out. like to the mall or anyplace with a TV, well, I kept my eye on the TV schedule and worked around it. The IF's seldom went out on their own much anyway, fearing that a child who might want to adopt him or her might arrive while they were out. I played on that fear to keep them in. The exception was you, dear. You had a life outside the House; you'd go out with your friends at night or on a date or some such thing and I had no way to keep you in. But I did find a way."
"And I'm guessing that this is where Rhonda Cassiman enters the story," said Sparky. "Rhonda, and Bloo. Oh, hell, I think I know what you did. Dang, Madame Foster. Just... dang."
Frankie spoke again. "So do I. But I want to hear you say it."
"First I want to say that I'm ashamed of myself," Madame Foster continued. "All I was thinking of was the House, and the money, and the plan. I should never have dragged the Cassimans into this. Like with Craig, I met Rhonda at the mall one day, and we chatted and had lunch. The poor woman was clearly tired and I asked why, which is when she told me about her problems with Bloo and her children. I suggested that she pack up Bloo and send him to my place but she wouldn't hear of it. 'I can't just ship off my son's best friend, imaginary or not,' she said. 'I need relief from him but it wouldn't be right.' I explained to her what I was up to with Craig and CN, how it would get Bloo out of her hair and get Mac out of the house to meet new friends, and in the end I offered to cut her into the deal because the way she described him, I had to have Bloo. I had to have him in the House because this loud, messy, destructive, egomaniacal troublemaker of an Imaginary Friend was the only thing I could think of that could wear you down and leave you too tired and cranky to go out and discover that I'd sold your life to Cartoon Network. And I've hated myself for inflicting him on you ever since. Frankie, I am so, so sorry that I did this to you." Madame Foster had tears in her eyes. So did Mr. Herriman, Sparky, and Lynnie. So did Frankie as she got up and left. To be honest with you all, so do I.

(To be continued...)

[Imaginary Light]

This is becoming epic. I seriously cannot wait for the next installment.

[Lynnie]

One word for you-

WOW!! :wiltshock:

Man alive, this is getting intense! I sooooo want to give Frankie, Wilt and Ed a hug and apologize for them finding out like this. And even Madame F, since at least she meant well. But it would have been much more honorable to get permission from the residents (and the Cassiman kids and Bloo) first. Aww.. Yes, I felt myself getting teary eyed at the end there.

I most definitely cannot wait for the next update!

[antgirl1]

Gasp...8D

[xxxClaire]

Whoa... that was intense... can't wait to see what happens next.

[Cassini90125]

Concluding the visit...

The meeting upstairs was mostly over at that point. Lynnie caught up with Frankie and managed to convince her to at least eat something before heading back to the House, which she did:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/Cassini90125/qw24.jpg

It was pretty obvious to everyone that she was more than a little upset. Linestra inquired if she was okay; Frankie responded in a calm, detached voice, saying, "Well, it seems that Madame Foster..." and repeated the entire story. Nobody missed the fact that she referred to her grandmother as "Madame Foster" and not "Grandma". There was a lot of hurt here, a lot of deep hurt, and it wasn't going to heal anytime soon. Eduardo took it all in and stood quietly nearby and spaced out, his mind gone to another place where he didn't have to deal with any of this:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/Cassini90125/qw25.jpg

"I..." Words failed him. "I know, Ed, I know," Jekylljiuce said as she joined him. Meanwhile, Coco found a different way to cope with things:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/Cassini90125/qw26.jpg

And that's where she stayed as Frankie gathered up the rest of the Imaginary Friends and went home.

Upstairs, Madame Foster continued to explain herself to Sparky:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/Cassini90125/qw27.jpg

"I can't say much more than I already have," she said. "It seemed like it was the only thing I could do. The House was in bad shape, the bill collectors were closing in, donations were flat and we couldn't get help from the government. It looked as if my life's work was coming to an end. Now my granddaughter hates me, the show is ending and the royalty checks aren't going to cover our expenses for long. I remember moving here because the taxes were lower, but something went wrong. I don't know what it is; the taxes and the bills weren't as low as I thought, they skyrocketed two days ago, and there's a huge gap in my memory between when we left Washington and when we arrived here. Everyone in the House has it, and so do a lot of other people. I don't understand it."
"Don't you remember anything from that time?" Sparky asked.
"Echoes of fear and something about a crystal. That's all," she replied. "I'm more concerned about money right now. Did you get your tax bill? My goodness, the first one was bad enough but the last one, poor Mr. Herriman nearly had a heart attack when he saw it. What happened that they rose so much overnight?"
Sparky shrugged. "The Bandrowskys warned us. 'Don't talk about the Piano with the newcomers or else'. I guess someone talked, and Kimmy and Darran found out about it. He's on the Valley council and pushed the tax bill in retaliation."
Madame Foster rolled her eyes. "Again with this Piano thing! What is the big deal about a musical instrument? You press the keys, it makes a nice sound. Have I missed something?"
"I don't know if you want to get involved in this, said Sparky. She looked at Madame Foster for a moment. "Then again, maybe you do. There may be a lot of money at stake."
"Newcomers or not, we live in the Valley, too. We're involved whether we want to be or not. So, what is it? Made of rare wood with keys of ivory and onyx, strings of silver, and lost out in the bay until someone finds and claims it?"
Sparky laughed. "No, not like that. It's not lost at all; in fact, I'll bet you've already seen it. A piano is a musical instrument but the Piano, the Jewel of the Valley, is a house."

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/Cassini90125/qw28.jpg

"A house?" Confusion tinted Madame Foster's voice. "The Bandrowskys are up in arms because people might talk about a house? Who are these Bandrowsky people?"
"Wealthy, ambitious, and ruthless," said Sparky. "Kimmy, Darran, and their three daughters:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/Cassini90125/qw29.jpg

"Kim, the youngest, she's not too bad but the rest of the family... I don't know. They want what they want and if you cross them or get in their way they will hurt you. They're also very charismatic, charming people, and they know how to use that charm. Be careful around them; if you frack them off enough, Kimmy will arrange a response, and it won't be pleasant."
"That bad? Dang. How does the Piano fit into this?"
"It started decades ago. There once was a man in the Valley named Marcus Langard, just another guy, really, nothing special about him until after he graduated from the University. He went on to become an adventurer like no other, travelling far and wide across the Valley and well beyond. When he finally returned to the Valley to settle down he had a fortune with him and bought a lot of land. People started calling him 'Marcus Landgrab', which he thought was funny, so he changed his name to that... 'cept there was a typo on the legal documents, so it's spelled 'Landgraab'."
"As in 'Malcolm Landgraab the 4th'? The fellow in Bluewater Village who owns Club Dante and the electronics store?"
"That's Marcus's descendent:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/Cassini90125/qw30.jpg

Marcus and his wife Irene had two children, Malcolm Landgraab the 1st and a daughter named Teresa. The Piano, built for him by the great architect Seomi (http://myhome.hanafos.com/~zocbal/index.htm), was their residence. Cost a fortune to build but was worth it. Total luxury. Unfortunately both Marcus and Irene died in an off-lot accident while the kids were in college, leaving the Piano as an unowned lot that nobody could afford, and in the Valley" (and in the game) "if no one owns a lot, no one can enter it. Malcolm the 1st tried for years to raise enough money to buy it back but never succeeded. Same with Malcolm the 2nd. Malcolm the 3rd lost interest in the house; I don't know what Malcolm the 4th thinks about it. I don't know what happened to Teresa; she left the Valley after graduation and that's the last anyone heard of her."
"Okay, so the Piano is a big expensive house," said Madame Foster. "So is my house. What's the big deal?"
"The big deal is what might be inside. The stories and rumors are pretty wild but the fact is that Marcus was incredibly wealthy and collected a lot of stuff during his life. No one knows what's inside the Piano but everyone knows it's far more valuable than it's already high price would suggest. The place is an incomparable treasure trove."

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/Cassini90125/The_Piano_01.jpg

"So the Bandrowskys wanted everyone to keep quiet to reduce the competition, is that it? Wow. This is a lot to take in, Ms. Read, it truly is. But it'll have to wait; right now I'm more concerned about my granddaughter."
"So am I, Madame Foster. So are we all."

The evening was pretty much over at that point. Madame Foster headed home while Sparky chatted briefly with the last two stragglers:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/Cassini90125/qw31.jpg

Mr. Herriman, dedicated as always to his creator, promised he'd look after her and do whatever he could to heal the rift that had now formed between Frankie and Madame Foster. Coco promised the same thing... and demanded to know where she could buy a bubble blower of her own.

Early Sunday morning at Foster's, neither Wilt nor Madam Foster could sleep. They found themselves taking comfort in each other's company on the living room sofa:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/Cassini90125/qw32.jpg

"I've done a horrible thing, Wilt, a horrible thing."
"I know, Madame Foster. Your heart was in the right place, trying to save the House and all. It's just bad judgement. Really bad. Especially dragging the Cassimans into it and using Bloo to wear down Frankie like that. Sorry, but that's really not okay."
"I know, Wilt. I always have. And knowing what I did has been tearing me up inside for five years now. I don't know if I can ever forgive myself for doing this to her and to all of you as well."
"This is going to be with you for a long time. Look, I'm not happy about this either, but I forgive you. Does that help?" He smiled that big white smile he was so well known for.
"Thank you, dear. But will Frankie ever forgive me? I don't know if there's any way I can ever make this up to her. I just don't know." With that she sighed and went to bed, leaving Wilt in front of the fireplace to contemplate the future of the House.

Actually, Madame Foster, there is a way you can make it up to Frankie. You see, there's some unfinished business at Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends. And you're going to be the one to finish it.

Stay tuned.

[antgirl1]

Dun dun duuuuuuun! :D

[Lynnie]

I second what Ant said, hehe. :D

I want to give Ed a hug in that shot of him all spaced out, awww. Yes Ed, I know too. And I love the look on Coco's face while she's playing with the bubble blower. ;)

Ah hah! So that's what "The Piano" is! Fascinating. It looks spectacular from the outside, and I can see why it got its name.

I feel sick for Frankie. I hope she'll be ok. :cry2:

[jekylljuice]

Darn it, this is getting really good. And it's nice that I was able to chill a bit with Eduardo there. :smed:

As for the Piano...lol, good to have that mystery finally solved. :)

[Fomalhaut]

Yay for detailed family stories! (God, I hate saying "yay" but it fits here, I guess.)

Keep this up! - and I'd like to see where I am while all this mess is going on (or is it better for me to stay out of it...?)?

[Cassini90125]

As for the Piano...lol, good to have that mystery finally solved.

The real mystery is what's inside it.

Keep this up! - and I'd like to see where I am while all this mess is going on (or is it better for me to stay out of it...?)?

I'm hoping to post some pics from your side of town after I finish this particular segment.

Due to a power surge from high winds and a later game crash I had to run the Foster's Headmaster scenario three (deleted) times to complete it, so if you spot any inconsistencies it's because I used pics from all three tries. Sheesh, this game puts me through hell. By the way, this story has a title card, just like the actual Foster's episodes, except it's a Sims 2 loading screen and you don't get to see it until the end of this chapter. Don't skip ahead, you'll spoil the surprise. (Insert a Mr. No-no smilie here.)

Foster's Valley - "Retribution, Part One: Prologue"

The next day Frankie woke up and got straight to work, as usual. She hadn't slept well the night before because of the revelation of what Madame Foster had done and wasn't in a very good mood. Nonetheless she got to work, partly out of habit, partly to get her mind off of everything. First up was a toilet that someone had plugged:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/Cassini90125/gt01.jpg

Then there was mopping to do in the downstairs bathroom:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/Cassini90125/gt02.jpg

After which she snapped the mop in half over her knee and sat on the toilet for a half-hour with her face in her hands, sobbing softly. Her once happy home now seemed more like a prison.

After she recovered, Frankie got herself some breakfast and waited for Mr. Herriman to show up. He soon did so, with his usual bowl of cereal:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/Cassini90125/gt03.jpg

"How are you this morning, Miss Francis? I understand that last night was very hard on you-"
"I want a vacation."
Mr. Herriman hadn't expected that. "Say again?"
"You heard me. I want a vacation. I have got to get out of here for awhile."
"We can't spare you. Replacing you for a few days would cost-"
"I don't care what it costs! We're talking about my mental heath here, okay? In the past four years I've gone out with friends four times and been on one date with a guy who turned out to be a total jackass! I work here every single day with hardly a break or any time for myself. I rarely go out unless it's to pick up groceries. Most of my social life is on the phone. And now I find out that my own grandmother brought in a self-absorbed lunatic to wear me down so that I wouldn't go out and find out that she'd sold videos of me and everyone else in the House to Cartoon Network and turned our lives into a public spectacle! I need a break!"
"You don't have to yell-"
"I'M NOT YELLING!!!"
Mr. Herriman sighed. He knew she was right but he also knew how much the House depended on her. "Can't we discuss this after the Headmaster's visit?"
"No, Peter Cottonbutt, we'll settle it now." There was a lot of anger in Frankie's voice. Anger and hurt. She did her best to calm down. "Look, it's not like I'd be gone for long. Besides, Wilt can take over while I'm gone, you know he's good at it and he loves to help out."
"He's not half as good at your job as you are."
"Eduardo and Coco can pitch in, too." She paused as a tear formed in her eye. "Am I really asking for so much?"
Again he sighed, not without sympathy. "It would help if the House was in peak condition up to the moment you left. Can you have this place spotless by the time of your departure? Absolutely spotless?"
Frankie smiled. "Watch me, rabbit man." With that, she got on the phone, made all the arrangements she needed, and got straight to work:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_O5NBf4tmO0

And soon Frankie had the House clean all over from top to bottom. Keeping it that way would be a challenge, but if she could keep Bendy out of trouble and away from puddles and such, she might be able to pull it off. Frankie had one other triumph that afternoon, too:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/Cassini90125/gt04.jpg

Cooking Level 10. First in the Valley to get a level of 10 in any skill. I just sat there and smiled, and not because of the little black dress. A moment later she went into the kitchen and put that cooking skill to work:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/Cassini90125/gt05.jpg

Frankie cooked, Mr. Herriman schmoozed, and Wilt waited patiently, ready to step in if the old rabbit managed to insult the Headmaster. No insult, fortunately, and dinner began a few minutes later:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/Cassini90125/gt06.jpg

She looks so beautiful in that dress... um, anyway, the rest of the residents joined the meal at various points throughout the evening. There was tension in the air from the night before, particularly when Madame Foster arrived at the table, and the Headmaster noticed it, resulting in a lower score than in the previous Headmaster scenario in the old Valley. Not low enough to fail, of course not; not with Frankie Foster in charge:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/Cassini90125/gt07.jpg

And so it went. The Headmaster departed and the scenario was won. Private school and spiffy new dork outfits school uniforms for the Imaginary Friends, a spotless House, and Frankie finally gets a well-deserved and long overdue vacation, the first really big thing she's had to look forward to since missing that concert on that horrible day long ago. She was smiling as she cleared the dishes. She smiled as she wiped down the counters. She even smiled (and rolled her eyes) as she heard the Headmaster yell from outside, "Get away from me, boy, you smell like poo!" Oh, that Bendy, she sighed. She went to retrieve him and send him off to bed. Through the dining room and the foyer, open the front door, and:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/Cassini90125/gt08.jpg

What the hell?

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/Cassini90125/gt09.jpg

"Hey hey, Frannie, long time no see! Wow, is that turkey I smell? I'm starved! Oh, can I get a different room instead of my old one?"

Oh, no...

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/Cassini90125/gt10.jpg

(To be continued...)

[Lynnie]

"Oh no" indeed!

Ugh. Why him? Why now? She needs a vacation NOW! Although I'm sure you agree so... yeah.

I'm glad the house passed inspection by the Headmaster, though. :frankiesmile:

[Fomalhaut]

That was lovely! Especially the Goofball surprise at the end... :D:D:D

(Wilt looks amazing in that formal outfit!)

[Imaginary Light]

I laughed out loud at the end.8D Glad I didn't ruin the surprise by looking at the title card beforehand.:P

[xxxClaire]

Noes! Not Goofball. :o

Nice work! Frankie looks great in that dress... and Wilt looks awesome! :D

[Bloo2daMacs]

Oh crap, Goofball!

....this will not end well...

:wiltshock:

[duck2k]

The duckman does a long scream of anguish "not the 'goofpoop!':frankiemad:

[jekylljuice]

Well, this is certainly a turn up for the books...Goofball is just about the last character I ever expected you to invite into your Sim domain, Cass. Unless of course you have an ulterior motive here...like exacting vengeance, for example. :bendy:

[antgirl1]

Whoa....how you took time to make a GOOFBALL sim I'll never know...You, as the simmaster, get the pleasure of tormenting him...:D

[Cassini90125]

I wish to state for the record that writing the following chapter was a very painful experience for me, and some of you may find it painful as well. I promise you that things will get better soon.

Foster's Valley - "Retribution, Part Two: Nightmare scenario

"What the (deleted) are you doing here?!?!" Frankie yelled. The sudden appearance of this pest did not bode well for her vacation.
"My family was gonna kick me out," Goofball responded. He scratched under an armpit as he strolled inside. Dunno why."
"I can think of a couple reasons," Frankie growled. "Where's your trunk? Have it removed so you could pass yourself off as a real teen?" Her voice was heavy with sarcasm.
Mr. Herriman showed up at that moment. "Did I hear yelling? Oh, hello, Mr. McGee. What brings you back to the House so early in the morning?"
"Well, I'll tell ya:"

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/Cassini90125/gt11.jpg

"Lost my trunk about a year ago. Some guy callin' himself Toxin or Volkswagon or somethin' grabbed me, dragged me into an alley, and lopped it off with a machete." He winced at the painful memory. "Kept yellin', 'This is for what you did to her.' No idea what he was talkin' about. I didn't do nothin' to no one! And then he beat me over the head with it til I couldn't fight back and then he shoved-"
"Okay, we get it," Frankie interrupted, her tone softened by pity. "Why are you here?"
"Like I said, my family was gonna kick me out. One night a couple weeks ago they was watchin' TV like always, next thing I know they're talkin' behind my back about sendin' me to that Fester's House." Frankie smirked. Fester's Home for Delinquent Imaginary Friends might've shaped Goofball up a little. He continued. "So the next day I ran away. Didn't know where to go, then I remembered the good times I had here. So here I am! So, um, how 'bout that turkey, eh?"
"Leftovers are in the refridgerator," said Mr. Herriman. "Indeed, it seems you have suffered considerably, but that ends now. Foster's shall keep you housed and fed until we can find you a suitable home."
"Aw, thanks, Mr. H!" Goofball said as he headed for the kitchen.
"I can't believe you're letting him stay here again," Frankie said. "Do you have any idea what he put me through?!"
"You've mentioned it more than once," Mr. Herriman replied testily:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/Cassini90125/gt12.jpg

"And apparently you don't care." Frankie's tone was sullen with resentment.
"I think you exaggerated the incident somewhat," said Mr. Herriman. "Look, Miss Francis, I understand that you don't like him and that you've been through a lot in the past 24 hours. We all have. But Foster's does not turn away an Imaginary Friend in need. Just put up with him as best you can and try to focus on your work, and your vacation. Now if you will excuse me, I have some paperwork to attend to. With that he turned and headed for his office.
Frankie just stood there in the dining room, feeling angry and miserable. Exaggerated? She went through hell because of Goofball's uncaring attitude, because of his lack of empathy and consideration for others. Mountains of extra cleaning and shopping, disturbing the baby IFs, going to the concert she'd so been looking forward to and missed because of him... but the worst part was how nobody in the House had stood by her. Yes, she'd been wrong, Goofball was indeed an Imaginary Friend and not a teenage slacker looking for a free ride, but still none of them had made any effort to prove it to her, and Goofball himself had certainly gone out of his way to not prove he was an IF. She wasn't going to go through all that again, and she made dang sure he knew that:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/Cassini90125/gt13.jpg

"Get this through your thick head, McGee," she said with barely controlled hostility. "You put me through hell the last time you were here, making me do extra work and missing that concert. I am not going to put up with that kind of crap again. You make my life difficult, well, we've got another IF here by the name of Berry. She's unstable and likes to play with knives. Got it?!"
"Hey, no problem, Frannie, I'm an easy-going guy! Can you get my room ready? I'm beat."
It took Frankie every last ounce of restraint she could muster to keep from hitting him. "My name is Frankie, she said as she stormed off to prepare his room.
"Sheesh, what's with her?" Goofball wondered as he headed for the living room. Once there he belched loudly:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/Cassini90125/gt14.jpg

And settled in to watch reruns of Ed, Edd and Eddy.

Frankie finished his room and went to bed, exhausted both physically and emotionally, slamming the door behind her and waking Madame Foster in the process. Madame Foster didn't much care to try to go back to sleep, still wound up and wrought with guilt over what she'd done, so she dressed and went downstairs, where she finally met Goofball for the first time:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/Cassini90125/gt15.jpg

"Oh, yes, my granddaughter mentioned you some time ago. She was very upset with your behaviour, you know."
"Yeah, she said that. Dunno why, I didn't do nothin' wrong."
"That's not the story I heard, young man."
"I'm an Imaginary Friend, not a man, ma'am."
"Whatever. Frankie is in a very fragile state of mind right now and doesn't need anymore stress than she's already dealing with. Try not to make any trouble for her, okay dearie?"
"Hey, sure, no problem. Can you get me a soda?'
"Get it yourself. Is Mr. Herriman around?"
"Yeah he's in the office or somthin'. Uh, my soda?"
Madame Foster ignored him and went to speak with Mr. Herriman, who had left the office and was now seated at the dining room table:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/Cassini90125/gt16.jpg

"Mr. Herriman," she began, "what really happened when that putz in the other room was here last time?"
"I don't know for certain," Mr. Herriman replied. "Miss Francis claims that he made a great deal of extra work for her. I believed she was exaggerating and forbade her from attending a concert until her work was done. At the time I thought she'd been slacking off but all things considered I'm beginning to wonder. I do still think her claims were exaggerated but perhaps not so much as I'd thought."
"I see. I think something bad is going to happen because of his being here again, but I can't throw him out because of a feeling or because Frankie doesn't like him. I can't turn my back on another IF, like I almost did with you."
"But in the end you found me again, remember? Goodness, that was a long time ago."
"It certainly was." Both smiled, remembering that day in the attic. Goofball, in the meantime, remembered the fine art of making a mess:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/Cassini90125/gt17.jpg

And history slowly but surely began to repeat itself.

The next morning Frankie discovered the mess, screamed angrilly, cleaned it up, and confronted her grandmother:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/Cassini90125/gt18.jpg

"I want him out of here, Grandma."
"Frankie, I can't do that. It would violate everything I believe in if I were to turn away an IF in need. Just last night I was reminiscing with Mr. Herriman about how I'd almost forgotten about him, about how I'd been living on my own until the day I came home to sell the House and I discovered him living in the attic, waiting all those years for me to come back for him. I was so touched by his loyalty, even after so much time had passed. How could I ever turn my back on a friend like that? How could anyone turn their back on their Imaginary Friend? I promised him I would never do so again, and together we dreamed up the idea of turning the House into a foster home for IFs that weren't so lucky, who's creators couldn't or wouldn't keep them. And I was thinking about you too, dear; I remember how much you wanted an IF of your own but your parents wouldn't let you have one. So I let you hang around here after school, just like Mac used to do, hoping that would be enough. It worked well, I think; you had Wilt as a surrogate father, Eduardo liked to play dolls with you, and Coco... what did you do with Coco?"
"We made fun of Douglas and Adam. Grandma, Goofball ruined an evening out that I'd really been looking forward to - which is what you brought Bloo into the House to do - and made my life miserable, and it's happening again, and Wilt and the others are starting feeding into it, just like Bloo did last time. I want him gone. You owe me."
Madame Foster sighed unhappily. "If it were anything else, Frankie, I'd do it. But this... I just can't. I can't turn away an IF in need. I'm sorry." She left to be alone in her bedroom and cry. She was hurting Frankie again and she knew it. And she hated herself for it. She hoped Mr. Herriman was right, that this was all just an exaggeration.

Work piled up all day; Goofball, it seemed, was incapable of cleaning up after himself. Frankie was hard-pressed to keep up with the messes; she hadn't worked so hard since the last time Goofball was in the House. Even Bloo had never been quite this bad. The other IFs helped but it wasn't enough, and eventually it caught up with her. And so did Mr. Herriman.
"Miss Francis, didn't I say I wanted the House spotless before you left for your vacation?"
"It was, until you let that pest in here again." She had a very bad feeling about this.
"I'm sorry, but 'was' isn't good enough. What if a family were to come here, looking to adopt? What would they think, seeing the House in such disarray?"
"That they'd gotten here just in time to 'rescue' an IF from this place."
"Very funny. They'd think that IF's are messy things that need constant attention and are too much work to have around their home. We can't take that chance. Miss Francis, as I've said I know you've suffered greatly because of recent events and do indeed deserve a break, but the House comes first. I'm sorry, but I'm afraid your vacation is cancelled."
Frankie felt like she'd been punched in the stomach. Her knees buckled:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/Cassini90125/gt19.jpg

"No, Mr. Herriman, please! You can't do this to me! I need a break!"
"I'm sorry, Miss Francis. My mind is made up."
"Please, Mr. Herriman, I'm begging you! Don't do this!"
"I'm sorry, Miss Francis." With that he turned and left for his office, leaving Frankie in tears. He now understood what Madame Foster meant about hating herself.

"Not again," Frankie sobbed. "Not again..."

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/Cassini90125/gt20.jpg

(To be continued...)

[Lynnie]

Yeah, I dislike Herriman with great intensity at times. That dreaded episode is one of those times. Grrrr...

Are you ok Cass? I'm worried about you. :'(

My heart goes out to Frankie so much! I want to go over there, grab her by the hand and drag her out of that house right away. Leave everything behind, she can live off my stuff (clothes, food, shelter, car, etc.). She just needs to get away from him. BOTH of them. She needs a vacation soooo bad! Dang it, Herriman!!

Ya know, I've always wondered why Frankie takes such direct orders from Herriman. Madame F is Herriman's boss, so she's above him. If Frankie has a problem with Herriman, she should be able to go to her grandma, explain the situation, and in most cases I'd think Madame F would side with Frankie (since she's mentioned herself how Herriman can be too up tight at times). Eh, I dunno. I can understand that in this situation Frankie probably feels really unconfortable talking to her grandma at the moment.

Ok, I want to hug her in that last shot. My heart is sinking. :bloosad: I need to grab her a box of tissues. Wait a sec... Yup, I may need one myself. :cry2:

[xxxClaire]

Wow, that was so sad.... poor Frankie... :'(

[kageri]

Goodness gracious! It's gotten so dramatic! It's interesting that it started out being about the Sims themselves, what they're doing in the game, and now it's a story in its own right.

I love the shot of Goofball on the couch, I've never gotten a Sim to do that. Maybe they have to be super super lazy or something.

[antgirl1]

Nooooooes....Frankie....

Herriman, you (deleted) idiot! You are so blind that you can't even see that Frankie needed that vacation...

And Goofball, that (deleted)...The least he can do is say please...Obviously that's not in his vocabulary.

[WiltsAKGirl17]

Noooooooo! Frankie's vacation-- cut down in the prime of life! :'(

Something tells me that the next installment is gonna be really interesting...

[Cassini90125]

I love the shot of Goofball on the couch, I've never gotten a Sim to do that. Maybe they have to be super super lazy or something.

Courtesy of the "Veg Out" hack. I don't recall where I got it, though.

Are you ok Cass? I'm worried about you.

It has been a pretty rough couple of days. Don't worry, I'll manage.

My heart goes out to Frankie so much! I want to go over there, grab her by the hand and drag her out of that house right away.

So do I.

Foster's Valley - "Retribution, Part Three: The truth comes out"

Frankie had a good long cry after the loss of her long-overdue vacation. That it was because of that pest Goofball, who had robbed her of a night out with friends and a concert she'd been looking forward to years ago, only made it worse. The hardest part though was that everyone believed she was exaggerating what he'd put her through. That really hurt, her family not believing her. And of course there was still the matter of what Madame Foster had done to them all compounding everything. Frankie felt like she was losing her mind. She felt trapped; she needed an escape, and she needed it now. She found some relief up on the third floor:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/Cassini90125/gt21.jpg

Nothing spells relief like a bubble blower. She sat in front of the dang thing for three hours, blowing bubbles, collecting her thoughts, and trying to come up with a way to turn things around. "Fine," she thought, "I was wrong about Goofball being an Imaginary Friend. That doesn't mean I'm making the rest of it up. There's got to be a way to prove it, but it's just my word against his. If only they'd been there, if they'd seen what I went through..." Then it hit her: the security tapes. Long gone now, Madame Foster having mailed them to Cartoon Network long ago, but there was a chance... she abandoned the bubble blower and ran to her room to check the discs she'd found at the Never Forgotten house. She read every episode synopsis; Store Wars, Busted, World Wide Wabbit, Mac Daddy- "They did an episode about Cheese??" She shook her head. "Yeah, bet that was real popular." No sign of what she needed. "Dammit," she muttered in frustration. If they used that footage for a story at all it must have been in a later season, but only two had been released on DVD. Frankie slumped in her chair in front of her computer, tears of frustration forming in her eyes. She stared at the blank screen for several long minutes before she remembered Sparky mentioning something about a forum dedicated to the show. Maybe...? "Nothing to lose by looking," she said to herself. She typed "Never Forgotten" in her search engine and a moment later, there it was; the Never Forgotten Forum:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/Cassini90125/gt22.jpg

For a moment she considered looking around, seeing what people were saying about her and the rest of the residents but shook her head. "Maybe another time. Right now I need to find... there. 'Episodes On Computer'." It didn't take her long to find what she was looking for. She watched the episode; it was all there, her entire nighmare day condensed into a half-hour children's cartoon. Another half-hour passed while she downloaded what she needed and burned it to disc. Her mission completed, Frankie smiled grimly. "Now we'll see who's exaggerating."

Wilt, Coco, and Eduardo were gathered in front of the TV when Frankie entered the room. They didn't say a word; they didn't know what to say. All she'd endured in the past few days... they wanted to offer her some comfort but didn't know how. Frankie didn't say a word either; she simply stuck her newly-made disc into the DVD player, turned it on, and left the room.

Twenty-two minutes later, three very upset Imaginary Friends went Goofball hunting. Wilt found him first. "You like treating people like they're your personal servants?! I'm sorry, but that is not okay!"
"Huh? What're you talkin' abo-" and then the water balloon hit:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/Cassini90125/gt23.jpg

"Take that, you rotten punk! You don't treat my family like that! And I am not sorry about it!" And he left in a huff.
"What the hell was that about?? Hey, Coco, is somethin' botherin'- owww! Oww, get off me! Aaaugh!" Too late; Coco let loose with a volley of insults as she gave him the noogie of a lifetime:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/Cassini90125/gt24.jpg

When she was done, she kicked him and left the room. Goofball sat down and rubbed the sore spot on his head. "Oww, man, what's gotten into them?" he asked Mr. Herriman, seated at the other end of the table.
"I have no idea," was Mr. Herriman's reply; he was as surprised by what had happened as Goofball. And then Eduardo showed up:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/Cassini90125/gt25.jpg

And the Guardian Friend remembered all the times he'd protected Nina, and a primal rage overwhelmed him:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/Cassini90125/gt26.jpg

"Master Eduardo! Stop this madness immediately!" said an astonished Mr. Herriman. Eduardo stopped, right after he'd left Goofball lying dazed and badly bruised on the floor. "What's gotten into the three of you?"
"Go watch the disc," Eduardo growled. He kicked Goofball once more for good measure and left. Mr. Herriman, not knowing what else to do, helped Goofball to the table and went to go watch whatever disc Eduardo was talking about. Madame Foster was already there, directed to the TV by Wilt. They looked at each other in confusion, shrugged, and turned to the TV. There on the screen, the events of Frankie's nightmare day, an episode titled Imposter's Home For Make-'em Up Pals, played out before their eyes, and at last they knew the truth:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/Cassini90125/gt27.jpg

"Oh, dear," Mr. Herriman whispered. "She wasn't exaggerating at all. Not at all." Madame Foster said nothing. She was too busy crying.

Mr Herriman was barely able to console her. Madame Foster spent the next hour in her room, miserable with the knowledge of what Frankie had endured over the last few days and what she's endured the last time Goofball had come to Foster's. When she finally came out, she headed straight to the phone:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/Cassini90125/gt28.jpg

"Hello, Dr. von Kohl? You don't know me but I have an offer for you. My name is Martha Foster, and I'm prepared to make a substantial donation to your research if you'll build a little something for me..." Dr. von Kohl agreed; the device would be ready in less than an hour. A little later, Madame Foster told Mr Herriman what she was planning to do:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/Cassini90125/gt29.jpg

"You can't be serious!" he exclaimed. "Not this again!"
"Got to, Mr. Herriman. I have to make up for everything; for what I did to Frankie and everyone else, for what was done to her today, and for what that horrible Goofball did to her years ago. When I'm done, maybe we'll all sleep a little better."
"But this, Madame..."
"I'm doing it. Now, where is the little pest?"
"I believe he's gone to the mall."
"Then that is where I will be, too, after I stop by Dr. von Kohl's place. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to dress properly before I leave." With that she headed back to her room, leaving Mr. Herriman standing there sighing, uttering a phrase he'd said more than once before:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/Cassini90125/gt30.jpg

"This never ends well..."

(The conclusion is up next...)

[Mac-a-lacka]

Wow! All your pictures and the story are neat! (Now that I got a chance to read it) I can't wait to see what happens next.:frankiesmile:

[WiltsAKGirl17]

Finally! Someone beleives poor Frankie. I loved when Wilt, Coco and Ed cut loose and kicked Goofball's behind. Oh the joy and humor...

I'm really looking forward to seeing the ending. Although... once this is over, will you kepp coming up with new stuff for the Sims? (I'm new to this stuff, so please forgive my cluelessness. :-[)

[Imaginary Light]

Oooh, nice.8D It's kind of funny seeing Goofball get beaten up.

[Lynnie]

Oh my... :wiltshock: 8D

Ed going all ferocious on Goofball had me cracking up. And I'm very glad everyone knows what exactly he put Frankie through now. He deserves everything they put him through here. :slybendy:

Yay, 5,000 post coming up next! It's gonna' be a monumental one, I can just feel it! :D

[jekylljuice]

Yep, vengeance. I knew it. Lol. :bendy:

[xxxClaire]

I'm glad to see Goofball finally geting what he deserves... Go Ed! 8D

[Cassini90125]

Foster's Valley - "Retribution, Part Four: The wrath of Madame Foster

Mr. Herriman sat alone on the third floor, drinking an espresso, waiting for what would happen next:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/Cassini90125/gt31.jpg

It was a tense time in the House, what with the truth about Goofball's antics from years ago finally being revealed and everyone realizing just how much Frankie had endured because of his oblivious, uncaring attitude, and how hard she worked everyday to keep the House running. All the cooking, the endless cleaning, so many trips to the market, the repairs, all of it... everyone was feeling more than a little guilty for taking her for granted for so very long. Madame Foster in particular was feeling sick about it, knowing her actions with Cartoon Network and bringing Bloo into the House had only coumpounded Frankie's already heavy load. And letting Goofball back in the House, costing Frankie her badly-needed vacation through no fault of her own, she couldn't take anymore. Time for action, she thought. Time to set things right, time to deal with that slacker pest once and for all, time to save her relationship with her granddaughter. Time for Batty Madame:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/Cassini90125/gt32.jpg

Armed with a pink stick that originated in another cartoon entirely, she left her sanity in her dresser and went to Dr. von Kohl's house. The device she'd requested was ready; she handed him a check and was off to the mall. Once there, it didn't take her long to find a disheveled-looking Goofball, who had a black eye and was having a horrible day himself; seems that while Madame Foster was making her way to the mall, Frankie had posted Imposter's Home on YouTube and word of Goofball's behaviour was starting to spread and the entire Valley was slowly starting to turn on him. He spotted Madame Foster and ran to her:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/Cassini90125/gt33.jpg

"Hey, Madame! What's wrong with everyone? People've been glarin' at me all day, givin' me the finger, smackin me around and throwin' things at me, and a couple of kids spit on me! And whazzername, that woman with the blue hair, man, she called me every rude name you've ever heard and she hit me! Wha'd I do? Uh, Madame? Hey, why's that thing on your head sparkin' like that?" A moment later he got a rather shocking answer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnC7K2NdZiw

"That's for what you did to my granddaughter! And this-" she blasted him again "- is for the hell my family is in because of you!" Slow-witted though he was, Goofball realized that he was in serious trouble and ran, Madame Foster right behind him, chasing him all around the mall and zapping him repeatedly, much to the amusement of the other shoppers. He ran back to Foster's and up the stairs, Madame Foster in hot pursuit. Wilt, Eduardo, and Coco saw them run past and looked at each other in surprise. Without a word, they agreed to stay out of it; sometimes it was better to let Madame Foster handle things her own way. They smiled and went to go distract Mr. Herriman. Goofball, meanwhile, found himself trapped on the third floor with no way out. Madame Foster smiled a grim smile, took off the lightning helmet, and drew forth the pink stick, intent on caving in his skull with it. "This once belonged to some anime woman," she informed him. "I don't know what it does but I bet it'll hurt when it goes upside your head. Say your prayers, boy." She advanced on him and Goofball dropped to his knees, sobbing and begging for mercy.
"Grandma, don't!" Frankie said frantically:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/Cassini90125/gt35.jpg

"Got to, dear," said Madame Foster. "I can't let him get away with what he's done to you. Not again."
"He's been punished. Wilt told me what's been going on, what he and the rest did, and Derek called from the mall while you were chasing him. He's been through hell."
"So have you, because of him. And because of me. I need to set things right!"
"And this is how you'll do it? By killing him? You'll never forgive yourself. And I won't be able to live with myself, knowing you did it for me. I wanted him to suffer, and he has. But I don't want him dead. I never have. This isn't what we're about, and this isn't what Foster's is about. We save Imaginary Friends, we don't hurt them, no matter how bad they are. Please, Grandma, put down the stick and let this end. Please."
Madame Foster paused, letting Frankie's words sink in. Oh, what she'd almost done... she went to Frankie and the two stood there, holding each other, crying and trying to comfort each other.
"Frankie, I'm sorry! I'm sorry about Cartoon Network, I'm sorry I let him back in the House, I'm sorry I wasn't there the first time he was here! Please, forgive me!"
"I do, Grandma, I do," Frankie cried in response. They stood there and cried in each others arms for several minutes. Eventually, they got back to the business at hand and turned to Goofball. "Th-thank you, Frankie," he said in a quivering voice. Finally, he'd gotten her name right.
"What do you want to do with him?" Madame Foster asked.
"I want him out of the House," was Frankie's response. "But first I want him to watch something."

And then it was Goofball's turn to watch Imposter's Home For Make-'em Up Pals:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/Cassini90125/gt36.jpg

Elsie Ray, visiting Coco at the time, was drafted to supervise Goofball and make sure he watched. No one else wanted to do it; they didn't want to see it again. Ever. As for Elsie, all she had to say was, "That's how you act when you're someone's guest? You're such a jackass!" Having seen what he put Frankie through, he couldn't really argue the point.

Throwing Goofball out of Foster's was one thing, but finding a place to throw him was another matter. Ever resourceful, Frankie found someone to take him in:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/Cassini90125/gt37.jpg

"Hey, great to see you again, Frankie! Look, I'm real sorry about what happened at Futurpoup that night but really, I'm a changed guy!"
"Sure you are, Dylan. Look, you want to make it up to me? Then take in Goofball until we can find a permanent home for him. Believe me, you'll love having him around; you two deserve each other."
"Sure, no problem, I love Imaginary Friends! I told you that once, right?"
"Among other things. Just keep him fed and housed, okay?"
"Hey, anything for you, babe."
"Don't call me that."
"Sorry. So, um, can I call you sometime?"
"You can call."
"Doing anything tonight?"
"Don't push your luck, Dylan."

And so Goofball ended up at the home of Dylan Lee, and in short order it was his turn to do the cooking and the cleaning:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/Cassini90125/gt38.jpg

And justice was served.

Back at Foster's, Frankie and Madame Foster started the work of putting their relationship back together.
"I really am sorry about everything, Frankie. I don't know what gets into my head sometimes."
"It's because you think with your heart half the time, not your head," said Frankie. "Same as me. And you've always been a little crazy. I mean, 'Batty Madame'? How did you ever come up with that in the first place?"
"It's a long story," Madame Foster smiled slightly. "Maybe I'll tell you someday." She sighed. "Are we good?"
"Not completely," said Frankie. Then it was her turn to smile slightly, "But we will be." And for both, for now, that was enough.

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/Cassini90125/gt39.jpg

But the story doesn't end there.

Goofball's callous actions hurt a lot of people. I've heard people say that Imposter's wasn't really that bad. They're right, but they're wrong, too. It wasn't that bad for them; for Frankie, it most certainly was that bad. She suffered because of Goofball's clueless insensitivity, and those of us who love her and care about her suffered alongside her, and the fact that he got away with it made it all the worse. In writing this story, which was personally very hard on me, I have attempted to set things right, to bring a sense of justice where there was none before, and perhaps a sense of closure for those who need it. It's almost certain that Cartoon Network will not do so in the few remaining episodes, so in a way I had to do this, for both my beloved Frankie and for her long-suffering fanboys. Whether or not I have succeeded to any degree is up to each reader to decide for him or herself. In the end I let Goofball live because I know Frankie would want it that way, and she's what's important here, not Goofball. She just never wants to see him again. I won't kill him, but then again, I won't tolerate his presence in the Valley, either. And that I can certainly do something about:

Take him away, boys! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkWXLwPmX98)

And Goofball John McGee was never seen again.

Back at the House, Frankie took out the trash and marvelled at how things had all worked out. Her grandmother had sold her life story to Cartoon Network, that was true. Yet if she hadn't, there would be no Imposter's eepisode, nothing to prove she wasn't exaggerating things. The Imaginary Friends finally understood how hard she worked in the House, day in and day out. This time, she'd turned things around. Definitely something to smile about. And best of all, in light of everything that had happened, Mr. Herriman reinstated her vacation without a second's hesitation. Frankie had been through hell, but in the end she came out a winner:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/Cassini90125/gt40.jpg

Of course, she's always a winner to me.

I love you always, Frankie Foster. Always. :-*

[Lynnie]

*cheers* :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:

Awesomeness Cass, pure awesomeness! Oh, I'm so happy for Frankie. She's got her vacation back, everyone better understands what all she puts up with, and her relationship with her grandma is in the process of being mended. This has definitely made me happy. :frankiesmile: I just love that last picture of Frankie kicking her heels up with the snowy hills in the background and a snowman beside her. I hope seeing all that snow helped you stay cool the last week or so. ;)

And a very hearty congratulations on your long awaited 5,000th post! And you certainly have an a-ok from me to take a break from the game if you want for a little while. I can see why this was so hard to make it through. I'm glad it's all finally over and things turned out great.

Yay, I still feel all giddy inside! I think I'll sleep good tonight.

[WiltsAKGirl17]

Fantastic ending-- very satisfying and heartwarming. I'm so happy to see that Frankie and Madame Foster made amends, and that everyone FINALLY sees and understands what Frankie went through. And it's wonderful that she got her well-deserved vacation back.

I must say, it was certainly very noble of Frankie to not let Goofball be killed, even after the hell he put her through. Nobility, mercy and compassion (I hope those are the words I'm shooting for): just a few more of Frankie's wide variety of dimensions. And I swear, the YT clip you linked to was hi-flippin'-larious. 8D

In all, a wonderful story, something I'm glad I got to enjoy. I'm quite certain Frankie would be very, very, very pleased (:-*), and warmest congratulations on Post #5000. Party at Cassini's house!

What do you wanna do now? Besides go to Disney Land?

[Imaginary Light]

The return of Batty Madame!8D

Aw, how heartwarming was that? It's so nice to see Frankie and Madame Foster's relationship becoming normal again. And hell yeah, Frankie actually got her vacation!:P

As for the YouTube clip...hilarious. Simply hilarious XD

[Mac-a-lacka]

It's nice to see that Goofball got what he deserved, I thought "Batty Madame" was hilarious.:bloogrin:

I just wished that Mac and Bloo would've been there to help with the "Goofball hunting".:P8D

5000 posts, yay, for Cassini!

Party at Cassini's house!

Am I invited? Lol.8D

[antgirl1]

At least now Goofball will annoy the aliens and probably will send him back to Earth...

And holy crap. How do you get people to be abducted? 8D

[Cassini90125]

I just love that last picture of Frankie kicking her heels up with the snowy hills in the background and a snowman beside her.

That was my favorite pic in the entire story; I may have it printed and framed.

And you certainly have an a-ok from me to take a break from the game if you want for a little while. I can see why this was so hard to make it through. I'm glad it's all finally over and things turned out great.

It was very hard, as I said, but it was something that I felt I had to do. I was determined to put the spectre of Imposter's away once and for all and give Frankie the long-overdue happy ending she never got before. She got it, and I will do everything I can to give her everything else she deserves as well, and the rest of the cast, too. No break, though; there's much more to be done, more stories yet to be told, more unfinished business to be dealt with. Some of it I've dropped hints about here and there but which stories will be told and how they'll turn out, well, we'll see when they happen.

The return of Batty Madame!

Aw, how heartwarming was that? It's so nice to see Frankie and Madame Foster's relationship becoming normal again. And hell yeah, Frankie actually got her vacation!

As for the YouTube clip...hilarious. Simply hilarious XD

Two takes for the video. The first was for the video itself, the second was for the audio track. A little fiddling with Windows Movie Maker was all it took after that.

At least now Goofball will annoy the aliens and probably will send him back to Earth...

And holy crap. How do you get people to be abducted?

He won't be back. Abduction courtesy of a game hack. In any case, Goofball is gone, taken by the Zhodani for their own inscrutable purposes. But that's just one way I can deal with characters who cross the line. The next character who sufficiently fracks me off may not be so lucky.

On to the newest pics...

Foster's Valley - Ten mildly amusing random pics

A fateful encounter outside the Wildebrat residence:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/Cassini90125/zvx01.jpg

"So, Richie Wildebrat, we meet again!" Actually they got along quite well and spent much of the afternoon playing cops and robbers. When dinnertime rolled around, Bloo ate heavily, belched good and loud (which Richie and Blake laughed at), and went home. He did call to say thank you the next day, but I think Mac made him do it. Bloo's been seen a lot around town lately; since the show started airing in the Valley he's been desperately trying to turn himself into a celebrity. Sounds like something he'd do. He hasn't actually watched a full episode, but he knows he's on TV and naturally his already inflated ego inflated a little more. Like it wasn't big enough already.

Dylan Lee, professional womanizer and full-time jerk:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/Cassini90125/zvx02.jpg

You already know what happened next so I won't bore you with the pics. Suffice it to say that Amanda was not amused, and she hits harder than Frankie. A lot harder. The next day, Dylan saw her at the mall and had the nerve to whistle at her. She slapped him but good. Go ahead, Mr. Lee, play with fire. Just don't say I didn't warn you.

xxxClaire enjoys a private moment with her new mp3 player:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/Cassini90125/zvx03.jpg

Classic. This pic was taken the morning after the Foster's cast visited the Never Forgotten house. I think she's listening to some death metal band. Having a good time, Claire? Later that same day X_dummkoff_x had a good time, although Imaginary light did not:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/Cassini90125/zvx04.jpg

I have no idea what prompted this. Boredom, I guess. One minute they're chatting amicably, the next, whammo! Just one of those things, I suppose. Happens a lot.

Ah, the delightfully pungent aroma of IT:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/Cassini90125/zvx05.jpg

Sparky got the recipe from Frankie during the visit (before Frankie found the disc). There are many ways to prepare a proper batch of IT; this one involved rhubard, mushrooms, and what appeared to be pork liver. Fetid, yeah, but you can't argue with success. You can't eat it, either.

Fomalhaut wandered into the house that afternoon and came upon an all too-familiar sight:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/Cassini90125/zvx06.jpg

You can almost hear her wondering what kind of nuthouse this is. The blonde girl is Aimee, who came with the game and came home from school with Jekylljuice. The pillow fight was almost inevitable. Jekylljuice wandered off to grab a snack or some such thing, Aimee and Fomalhaut chatted, and Linestra and xxxClaire invited them to come and have some real fun:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/Cassini90125/zvx07.jpg

I have no idea why using this weird thing makes everyone float but I'm pretty sure that there's no helium involved. They stayed glued to it until after midnight. Fomalhaut and Aimee eventually went home; Linestra and xxxClaire eventually passed out. It was pretty funny.

Breakfast the next day:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/Cassini90125/zvx08.jpg

Jekylljuice ponders about the meaning of life and the relationship between man and Bubble Blower while Lynnie tells her to straighten up her neck, do you want it to freeze like that? No freezing, fortunately, and yes it does happen, courtesy of an occasional glitch. Lynnie did the dishes, Jekylljuice went to class, and I went to Foster's, where I watched Bendy and Wilt build a pair of snowmen:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/Cassini90125/zvx09.jpg

I leave it to you to figure out which Imaginary Friend made which snowman. A wrong guess entitles you to a free post in the "Signs you've watched too little Foster's" thread. Nice job to both of them. Wilt gets a high-five; Bendy gets an appointment with the school psychologist. Eduardo made a snowman as well, and in the final pic a visitor checks it out:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/Cassini90125/zvx10.jpg

Yep, it's a penguin. It gets very cold in the Valley some nights. The penguin also shows up if there are fresh fish available on the lot, which he will eat and then piddle on the lawn. Sometimes this game is so weird.

That about covers it. Up next: more pics and a few minor things for y'all to think about. Stay tuned.

(Mac smilie goes here)

[Lynnie]

Good, Dylan needs to be smacked. I hope Amanda and/or Frankie smack him again. :scaryberry:

Hahahahaaaa, the pic of Claire playing with her Mp3 is sooo funny. 8D I'm having a hard time picturing her doing that in real life, heh.

I personally would expect the snowman Bendy made to be much more scary/malicious/disturbing looking. And awwww, I love the pic of the penguine checking out Ed's snowman. The sky looks really cool in that shot, too. At first I thought the peppermints were bloody rocks and I was wondering "What the...? Why?" But I see now that they are peppermint candies. Hehe, after the 90+ temps we had in my area today, these snowy scenes are really nice to look at. :)

[antgirl1]

Lol, Bendy made one but didn't crush Wilt's? Yeah, school psychologist, stat! =P

[duck2k]

LATE ENTRY: I do like your Good-bye Goofball, Cass! I can hear Porky Pig's voice, "Bdeeuh, bdeeuh, budeeuh, that's all folks!":frankiesmile:

[Cassini90125]

Good, Dylan needs to be smacked. I hope Amanda and/or Frankie smack him again. :scaryberry:

Hahahahaaaa, the pic of Claire playing with her Mp3 is sooo funny. 8D I'm having a hard time picturing her doing that in real life, heh.

I personally would expect the snowman Bendy made to be much more scary/malicious/disturbing looking. And awwww, I love the pic of the penguine checking out Ed's snowman. The sky looks really cool in that shot, too. At first I thought the peppermints were bloody rocks and I was wondering "What the...? Why?" But I see now that they are peppermint candies. Hehe, after the 90+ temps we had in my area today, these snowy scenes are really nice to look at. :)

I love that pic of xxxClaire; at some point I may trim it and have Mr. Herriman paint a copy. As for Dylan, I have no doubt he'll get smacked again. And again. :frankiemad:

The peppermints are actually roses with a coating of ice. Sorry. :-[

Lol, Bendy made one but didn't crush Wilt's? Yeah, school psychologist, stat! =P

Wilt made his after Bendy went inside. Smart move. :D

LATE ENTRY: I do like your Good-bye Goofball, Cass! I can hear Porky Pig's voice, "Bdeeuh, bdeeuh, budeeuh, that's all folks!":frankiesmile:

Better late than never, dude. :frankiesmile:

Game crashes are increasing in frequency so I'm most likely going to uninstall and reinstall the entire game yet again pretty soon. No data will be lost but the process kills half a day so if I seem crankier than usual later this month, that's probably the reason. I have no idea what the source of the problem is so there's currently no way I can correct it permanently. Sucks but that's how it is. In the meantime, here's a question for y'all to think about. Mac wants a pet, any pet, dog or cat of any age. Bloo wants a puppy. Rhonda and Terrence don't much care. Should I add a pet to the Cassiman house? :)

[Mac-a-lacka]

Dylan Lee, professional womanizer and full-time jerk:

Lol. 8D

I'd like to see Frankie give Dylan a noogie. :frankiemad:

[MaxJ1800]

A word of advice on apartment pets. Get rabbits, they don't need a lot of space. They don't eat much and they are VERY easy to clean up after.

[Lynnie]

The peppermints are actually roses with a coating of ice. Sorry. :-[

Roses? Ok. Wow, the game has some interesting graphics to make roses look like solid peppermint candies. 8D

As for a pet for the Cassimans, if Blooregard wants a puppy, and Mac just wants a pet of any kind, I'd say get a puppy because they'd both be happy. But would that take more work? You know, walking, feeding, grooming, cleaning up after. Cats are much more independent and only require feeding and cleaning of the litter box maybe once a week. Or does the game factor in all that? If not, get a puppy. If it does and it would mean less work for the game (and you), get a cat. I just hope Bloo isn't upset over it and causes heartache for his best friend. :macwor:

[antgirl1]

Well, I think canonly there was a dog in an episode which a lot of people disliked, (IOHASFY) so I think a dog/puppy would be in order. :)

[jekylljuice]

Personally, I like those womrat thingies. They're pretty darn gnarly.

[Mew]

I think a puppy xD. And call it 'Stupid' 8D.

[Cassini90125]

Foster's Valley - "Another Welcome Wagon Story"

Frankie on the phone:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/Cassini90125/DH01.jpg

She'd been tirelessly cleaning the House all morning and well into the afternoon, in preparation for her vacation. She might've gotten a lot more done were it not for Mr. Herriman constantly getting in the way and making insane demands on how to get things done. "Counterclockwise, Miss Frances! Scrub the sink in a counterclockwise manner!"
"What the hell does it matter?!?!" was Frankie's annoyed response. It didn't get any better as the day wore on. Wanting to finish up without furthur delay, Frankie resolved to get Mr. Herriman out of her way for a day. So she got on the phone and called a woman she'd met recently. "Hello, may I speak with Kimmy Bandrowsky?" Ah, Frankie, you have no idea who you're getting mixed up with. Frankie asked for a favor and Kimmy obliged her, and the next day Mr. Herriman was sentenced to Welcome Wagon duty at the house of Duchess:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/Cassini90125/DH02.jpg

Surprisingly, she never spotted Amanda so there was no shoving match. Duchess tired of the telescope and went inside to read, and soon Mr. Herriman and the rest of the Welcome Wagon showed up. Inside, Mr Herriman met fellow Wagoneer Marisa Bendett:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/Cassini90125/DH03.jpg

Who claimed he had a spot on his suit:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/Cassini90125/DH04.jpg

And flicked his nose when he looked down to check:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/Cassini90125/DH05.jpg

Not a good start for the two of them. There was some poking, and then Duchess interceded and chatted with Marisa while Mr. Herriman stood there in a huff:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/Cassini90125/DH06.jpg

The two of them got along reasonably well. At that point the third member of the Welcome Wagon, a guy by the name of Goopy GilsCarbo (well known to Sims players everywhere), decided he was feeling playful and tried the "Friendly Hug" routine on Marisa:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/Cassini90125/DH07.jpg

"Ack! Don't touch me, you lunatic!" Obviously it didn't go too well. Might've helped if he'd showered earlier. Duchess laughed, she and Marisa moved off to the couch for some quality time with the TV, and Mr. Herriman spoke to Goopy about his unseemly behaviour:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/Cassini90125/DH08.jpg

"Goopy! Are you an idiot, sir? What's wrong with you?" he asked.

More in a moment...

[Cassini90125]

Goopy, still feeling friendly and in need of a hug, soon turned his attention to someone else:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/Cassini90125/DH09.jpg

Feeling a little out of character today, Duchess? Can't see that ever happening on the show, but who knows? The series finale may be full of surprises. In any case Duchess and Goopy got along great and will no doubt end up as good friends before long. Alas, the same cannot be said for Mr. Herriman and Marisa Bendett. As the day wore on they sniped at each other, they poked, shoved, and slapped, and finally in erupted into a brawl:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/Cassini90125/DH10.jpg

You can't see Duchess in the pic but she's nearby, and she was clearly enjoying the spectacle. Goopy missed it; he was in the bathroom at the time. The fight ended soon enough:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/Cassini90125/DH11.jpg

Chalk up a victory for the Raging Rabbit, or the Battlin' Bunny, or whatever you want to call him. Marisa was mad as hell:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/Cassini90125/DH12.jpg

And promptly left in a huff. She missed dinner, which was too bad, as she would've enjoyed Mr. Herriman's reaction to Goopy's atrocious table manners and deteriorating hygiene:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/Cassini90125/DH13.jpg

Duchess was amused. Good day for her, not so much for Mr. Herriman. Good day for Goopy, too, and he and Duchess whipped out the pillows for a little more fun:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/Cassini90125/DH14.jpg

And finally the day ended. Goopy and Mr. Herriman departed, the latter hoping to never lay eyes on any of them ever again, and Duchess got blitzed on espresso:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/Cassini90125/DH15.jpg

Fun afternoon for the Simmaster, too. Best of all, with Mr. Herriman out of her way all day, Frankie finished cleaning the House without any further delay, and her vacation is just a few days away. I still don't know where she's going but I'll figure that out soon enough. Oh, as for Marisa, the next day she got engaged to Malcolm Landgraab so Foster's Valley will soon see it's first wedding. There's going to be a party; I believe the main course will be braised rabbit. Her idea, not mine. 8D

Coming up soon: the season finale. Stay tuned. ;)

[Lynnie]

Duchess hugging someone? And then having a pillow fight with them? Wow, I'd love to see that on the show. I just can't picture it. And Herriman in a fight? Or as he might say, a "gentleman's challenge". But with a lady! 8D That was great!

I hope Frankie's vacation starts soon, and she has a spectacular one! :frankiesmile:

[jekylljuice]

Sweet! I like seeing Duchess's more sensitive side (and we all know that she has one. Yeah, sure we do).

[MaxJ1800]

A little off topic, but I was recently watching the E3 coverage on G4tv. They showed the very first commercial for Sims 3, due out either around the holidays, or early next year. As for what I saw. Let's just say that when this game comes out, Fosters Valley will NEVER be the same, again.

[Cassini90125]

A little off topic, but I was recently watching the E3 coverage on G4tv. They showed the very first commercial for Sims 3, due out either around the holidays, or early next year. As for what I saw. Let's just say that when this game comes out, Fosters Valley will NEVER be the same, again.

Foster's Valley will be exactly the same, as I am not buying a game that comes with invasive, draconian malware that masquerades as copy protection. EA can take Sims 3 and go to hell. :frankiemad: :terrence:

Sweet! I like seeing Duchess's more sensitive side (and we all know that she has one. Yeah, sure we do).

I would love to know who created her, and more importantly, why?? Whoever did it has got some 'splainin' to do.

Duchess hugging someone? And then having a pillow fight with them? Wow, I'd love to see that on the show. I just can't picture it. And Herriman in a fight? Or as he might say, a "gentleman's challenge". But with a lady! 8D That was great!

I hope Frankie's vacation starts soon, and she has a spectacular one! :frankiesmile:

I think Duchess regards Goopy as a pet more than anything else. At some point I might get her one of those vicious, spoiled little lapdogs that we occasionally see the "high society" people carrying on TV. As for Mr. Herriman, that's not the first fight he's been in and I doubt it'll be the last. Marisa's a lady, true, but Sims are quite egalitarian about such things.

Frankie's vacation will be covered in Season Three. I'm looking forward to it almost as much as she is! :frankiesmile:

[jekylljuice]

I would love to know who created her, and more importantly, why?? Whoever did it has got some 'splainin' to do.

Well, Duchess is one of my favourite characters, so I'm thankful to whoever it was that she's there. I'd also like to know more about her backstory, just because it's something that interests me.

[Cassini90125]

Well, Duchess is one of my favourite characters, so I'm thankful to whoever it was that she's there. I'd also like to know more about her backstory, just because it's something that interests me.

I asked Craig about that at the Con last Sunday afternoon. Details are here (http://www.fosters-home.com/forum/showthread.php?p=84576#post84576) in Duchess's thread.

I hope Frankie's vacation starts soon, and she has a spectacular one!

Frankie's vacation will be covered in Season Three. I'm looking forward to it almost as much as she is!

As it turns out, it's going to be a vacation she will never forget. :frankiesmile:

Still working on the second season finale. In the meantime, xxxClaire recently visited the Foster's Valley Micro Mall:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/Cassini90125/3xCW01.jpg

She spotted Wilt the moment she entered the building - he's kind of hard to miss - and wanted to talk to him but Marta got to him first and promptly monopolized his time. This annoyed xxxClaire no end; she ought to be talking to Wilt, not the sister of the Valley Pest. After all, she is a Forum Member. I guess there's some logic in there somewhere. Anyway, she decided that Marta needed to be "dealt with", so she asked Robert McBride to deal with her:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/Cassini90125/3xCW02.jpg

Here in the Northwest part of the Valley if you want something done but don't want to do it yourself, you find one of the McBride boys and offer him a buck. Odds are he'll do it, unless he thinks it'll frack off the Bandrowsky's. That isn't healthy. No danger of that here but Robert wants more than a couple of bucks for his services today. "Well, what more do you want?" asked xxxClaire.
"I'm bored," Robert replied. "Do something that'll make me not be bored anymore."
"Like what?"
"I dunno. Whatever."
xxxClaire thought it over for a moment and decided to entertain him by doing a dramatic retelling of some of the events in the Forum's Spam threads:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/Cassini90125/3xCW03.jpg

Thusly, Robert was introduced to such legendary subjects as Imaginary Party 2, The Super Cartoon Crossover, and the typo-titled Express You're Insanity Today!. No longer bored but completely confused, Robert wandered off to deal with Marta. xxxClaire found her first, and Wilt, too, in the salon:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/Cassini90125/3xCW04.jpg

Marta was busy telling Richard Goodwin all about her part in the upcoming school play so xxxClaire had Wilt all to herself. The two of them wandered off to get some lunch when Robert finally showed up and, true to his word, he "dealt" with Marta in the traditional Sim manner:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/Cassini90125/3xCW05.jpg

Yep, it's noogie time again. That's gotta hurt. A minute later it was over and Marta just stood there in shock:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/Cassini90125/3xCW06.jpg

"Oww! Sheesh, McBride, whadya do that for?!?!" Robert explained that he was merely expressing his insanity and would the enchanting miss Marta like to go with him to an imaginary party? She looked at him like he'd lost his mind. :cheesegrin:

The moral of the story... er, there isn't one, although "Don't get between xxxClaire and Wilt" might work.

For those interested, the blonde guy in the brown suit in pics 5 and 6 is Marta's father. Family loyalty isn't one of the Sims strong points. 8D

[Bloo2daMacs]

Hah! I definately found that amusing! :D

When I get around to making the Spammer Sims, I'm definately going to be putting a "Hotel Hotel", and an "Imaginary Dance Club". 8D

[Lynnie]

Haha, I especially like that last shot where Marta is shocked, and Robert appears to be laughing. 8D

Why were they all in the salon? :blooconf: Did they follow Marta in there when she wanted some shampoo or something? It just seems to be an odd place for four guys, including Wilt, to just be "hanging out".

[Cassini90125]

Haha, I especially like that last shot where Marta is shocked, and Robert appears to be laughing. 8D

Why were they all in the salon? :blooconf: Did they follow Marta in there when she wanted some shampoo or something? It just seems to be an odd place for four guys, including Wilt, to just be "hanging out".

The salon has always been used as something of a hangout. Beats me why. I considered adding a coffee bar in an unused shop but there wouldn't be much point at present; if the game crashed, and it still does that more often than not, any socializing that might have gone on would be erased. I could spend an entire day there getting two strangers to know and really like each other and it would all be for nothing.

I'm running the game as I type this. I can't play the NF house right now because the game has inexplicably relinked you and xxxClaire as mother and daughter. SimPE will fix that when I exit the game. In the meantime, I am now entering the Wildebrat residence; Blake Superior is always fun to play. ;D

[xxxClaire]

8D That was hilarious... it's true, no one gets between Wilt and I. :P


Robert explained that he was merely expressing his insanity and would the enchanting miss Marta like to go with him to an imaginary party? She looked at him like he'd lost his mind. :cheesegrin:

8D 8D 8D Hilarious.

[Cassini90125]

That was hilarious... it's true, no one gets between Wilt and I.

Interesting statement, all things considered.

Two storylines to end the second season. Here's the first...

Foster's Valley - "The Dark Sun"

Linestra visited the Bandrowskys the other day:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/Cassini90125/FVS201.jpg

She came home from school with Christine, seated at the other end of the couch. In between them is Chris's sister Kim. Linestra brought along a copy of the FHFIF Season One DVD; the Bandrowsky girls knew some of the Foster's residents but had never seen the show itself and were fascinated, seeing people they'd met turned into cartoons. The eldest of the Bandrowsky girls, Samantha, was busy elsewhere but still listening to the show and the conversation intently as she cleaned the shower:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/Cassini90125/FVS202.jpg

How she does it with the bathroom door passing through her body is beyond me. When they were done watching, Kim wandered off to study, while Chris peppered Linestra with questions:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/Cassini90125/FVS203.jpg

"So, people make Imaginary Friends just by wanting one?"
"Only kids can do it," was Linestra's reply. "You lose the ability when you hit adolesence."
"Why?"
"I don't know. Hormones, I guess."
"Why would a kid want one, though?"
"Uh, love and companionship, maybe? Who wouldn't want one?"
"You can get love and companionship from a dog, too."
"Can you talk with a dog?" Linestra sounded annoyed. "Can a dog play with you the same way a thinking being can? Can it teach you things or maybe help you with your homework?"
"Alright, I get it, calm down. So the ones I've seen around town, they're up for adoption, right?"
"Yeah, but only for kids, I think." Just as well, too, Linestra thought but wisely didn't say out loud. The conversation continued for awhile before switching to other topics. Samantha listened quietly in the background, saying nothing. Eventually she lost interest in the discussion and made a phone call. Kim continued her studies. Stars alone knew what their parents were up to.

The next day at Foster's it was Coco who brought home a guest, Kenneth McBride. He'd seen the show on CN and knew Coco from school and asked her if he could meet everyone. Coco was happy to oblige him. He hung out with everyone for awhile and ate quite a bit at lunch, courtesy of Frankie. The gang dispersed after the meal, Wilt heading for the treadmill and an afternoon workout, Eduardo joining Madame Foster at the pool table. You already know who cleaned up.
"They're all great," Ken said. "Weird that y'all still haven't been adopted yet. What's with that?"
Coco sighed. "I dunno. I really don't. There aren't any kids in the Valley either, so I don't know if we'll ever get adopted."
"That's gotta suck," Ken said sympathetically. "Lotta teens in town, though. Couldn't one of them could adopt you?"
Coco started to respond with the "Kids Only" speech but stopped. "You know, I'm not sure. I don't know if there's a rule about that or not."
Ken appeared to be in thought for a moment. "Didn't that Terrence dude adopt Bloo in that first episode?"
"Huh, he did. Never thought of that."
"Maybe you oughta talk to Madame Foster about it. Teens need friends too, y'know, Imaginary or real. Hell, I'd love to have you around the house all the time."
Coco looked at him. "Got something on your mind, Kenneth?"
Ken laughed. "Not me. Love to adopt you but I can't. My folks just had another baby; we ain't got the room or the food. Still a good idea though; other teens in town would go for it. Eh, talk to Madame, see what she says."
"I will. Thanks, Ken." A friendly hug followed:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/Cassini90125/FVS204.jpg

Ken headed for home; Coco went to have a chat with Madame Foster. Bendy ignored them both and read the newspaper's police reports.

That evening, Frankie served salmon with a big smile:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/Cassini90125/FVS205.jpg

The smile came from knowing that her vacation going to start the next day. Lots to smile about, there; no cleaning, great meals at local restaurants, new sights to see, hours spent relaxing in the sun. So what part of the vacation was she most looking forward to?:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/Cassini90125/FVS206.jpg

Figures. Dinner was served, and after the dishes had been cleared (again by Frankie), Madame Foster called a house meeting:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/Cassini90125/FVS207.jpg

"So," she began, "what would you all say to opening the adoption process to teens?"
Stunned silence filled the room. Mr. Herriman broke it. "May I ask what this is about?"
"It's about getting our Imaginary Friends into families that need them, same as always," Madame Foster said. "I'm merely thinking about the age requirements. I looked at the rules; we don't have age requirements, at least there's nothing written down that I could find. Coco pointed out to me the lack of children in town; if we don't allow teens to adopt then there's no one for them. I'll remind you all that you can stay here as long as you like, but I know that each of you wants to be adopted by a new child. But there aren't any children available. Teen adoptions might raise some interest around town. Anybody?"
There was silence for a moment before anyone said anything. Finally, a voice spoke. "I'm willing." It was Wilt.
"Are you sure, Master Wilt?" asked Mr. Herriman. "Teens are very different from children, you know."
"I know," said Wilt, "but like Madame Foster said, we're kind of out of options. Besides, teens aren't that different; they need love too, and friends and maybe a guiding hand now and then. If you can find a teen who'll adopt me, I'm willing to give it a shot. Is that okay?"
The rest agreed with Wilt, Coco enthusiastically, Eduardo reluctantly, Bendy indifferently. Berry wanted to be adopted by Bloo. Frankie and Mr. Herriman had their misgivings but stayed silent. The former went to pack her suitcase. No one knew it but in that momemt, in that decision to allow teens to adopt Imaginary Friends, a shadow had fallen on Foster's. A shadow cast by a dark sun.

Back at the McBride house, Ken was on the phone:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/Cassini90125/FVS208.jpg

"Did they fall for it?" Samantha asked.
"Yep. Gave 'em every line you said, 'bout teens needing friends, how it didn't break their rules, everything. Even through in a hug. Ain't nobody who can resist the Kenster."
"Yeah, whatever," Samantha said with barely disguised scorn.
"So which one you taking?"
"That's my concern McBride, not yours."
"Sorry. You wanna come over and hang out or something?"
"Maybe later." She hung up at that point and went to finalize her plans.

Samantha Bandrowsky:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/Cassini90125/FVS209.jpg

Beautiful and brilliant. And dangerous. She turns every head wherever she goes but never seems to notice or care. She has it all; looks, brains, money, everything except a conscience. She's the kind of girl who could have every guy in town and leave a trail of shattered hearts in her wake but that will never happen, because before she'd get involved with you she'd first have to care about you, and she doesn't. Other people matter little to her, even the few she calls friends. Her hair is the golden color of a new dawn on a warm spring morning, her skin fair and flawless, her laughter is like music, and her rare smile lights up a room. But her heart is the color of midnight, long after the moon has set. No one knows why. But the residents know enough to fear her. They have a nickname for Samantha, never used when she's near and seldom spoken much louder than a whisper. They call her the Dark Sun.

And she has Foster's in her sights.

One other thing... H&M Fashions opened a branch in Downtown that day:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/Cassini90125/FVS210.jpg

Nobody in town knew or remembered but when H&M opened in the old Valley it precipitated the old Valley's destruction. They've reopened in the Northwest part of the Valley now. And something terrible is about to drop out of the sky.

[Bloo2daMacs]

DUN DUN DUN!

Dramatic! Can't wait for the second half!

[Lynnie]

*gasp* Oh no! Why do I have the feeling she's after Wilt? Well, if it's him, I'm not too worried. He can handle himself I'm sure. I'm just worried about Ed, or even Coco. As for Berry and Bendy, eh, they'll probably deserve whatever they get. :scaryberry: :slybendy: Unless she just uses them to her advantage to make someone else's life miserable. I'm on the edge of my seat.

Yay, Frankie's about to start her vacay! Whoo hoo! :frankiesmile:

[Cassini90125]

The Simmaster sat in front of his screen, working with the powerful SimPE program, further tweaking and refining his Sims. It was an ongoing process with many of them, specifically the residents of Foster's and the other characters from the show. Every scrap of new information that he discovered was analyzed and added to their personalities, seeking always to make them as much like the original characters as possible. Thus far he had been more successful than he'd thought possible; his Foster's Sims behaved so much like the originals he could hardly believe it. But still he tinkered, for he knew that accuracy was paramount; anything else was unacceptable. It had to be that way or the ultimate purpose of the experiment would be meaningless. As a part of that process he had journeyed thousands of miles to meet a man named Craig, a man who had knowledge that he needed. And he had been stunned by what he learned about the character named Frankie, learning the real reason she worked at Foster's. Her vacation was now more important than ever but there was a problem; the vacation game was infected by SecuROM and couldn't be installed without risking the entire Valley. Yet without it, Frankie's vacation could never happen. He was at an impasse for some time when he finally decided to try another approach. It was time to call on Fairlight...

Foster's Valley - "Things that go 'Arrr!' in the night"

After the house meeting, the gang parted company to do their own things. Coco, feeling playful, started a pillow fight with Wilt while Eduardo watched:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/Cassini90125/FVS211.jpg

Bendy, also feeling playful but in a very different way, eyed the bust in the foyer and wondered who he could blame if it had an "accident":

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/Cassini90125/FVS212.jpg

And Frankie, hoping to make a good impression on the natives of her vacation destination, parked herself in front of the downstairs bathroom mirror, intent on a little speech practice:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/Cassini90125/FVS213.jpg

She stayed there all night and deep into the early morning hours until she was almost to the point of exhaustion. Everyone else in the House did the same thing, running themselves into the ground until they were out of energy. The fact that they would be too tired to go to school or catch their taxis or do anything else at all made no difference to any of them; they exhausted themselves and didn't go to bed until nearly 6:00 AM, barely an hour before sunrise. The residents at Foster's weren't the only ones to do this, however. The Cassiman house engaged in this inexplicable behaviour, too. So did the Marvilles. The Westlanes, too. And the McBrides, the Bandrowskys, the Gustafsens, every family in the Valley was overcome by the urge to exhaust themselves. It looked like the sun would rise on a very tired Valley.

Dr. Werner von Kohl was afflicted with the urge as well, and chose to spend the early morning hours with his telescope:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/Cassini90125/FVS214.jpg

What he saw surprised him; three brilliant new stars in the sky. He watched as they approached the Valley and separated, slowly drifting towards the horizon. Puzzling, but them he smiled as he remembered something. This had happened several times before; it was a part of the collective memory of all Sims, although they could only remember it while it was happening again. Bright new stars would appear, and the world would change. The first time it had happened, the University had opened the next day. The second time, Downtown opened and people began wanting and buying cars. Bluewater Village, cats and dogs, the seasons, all these things and more, all were preceeded by new stars in the sky. He could sense the wondrous promises of these three new stars, even though they were far away. One held the mysteries of the Orient; the second contained the quiet majesty of the mountains. In the third was the warmth and romance of the islands. All slowly descending through the sky, soon to become a part of the Valley. Certainly something to smile about.

And then the fourth star appeared, and Werner was seized by a sense of dread.

It was a massive, wedge-shaped thing, blue-grey in color, surrounded by a palpable aura of menace. It cared nothing for the Valley, seeking only to fulfill it's alien mission, no matter what the cost, no matter who paid the price. He'd seen this thing before, he knew he had; he just couldn't remember it. And he knew that this version was much more powerful than the last one. He could hear it, too, hear it's unfathomable alien thoughts, insane things about what would be forbidden, reconfiguring security, heuristic dialing, rootkits, copying, plans for the destruction of firewalls, and more. None of it made sense. Whatever it was, it was coming and could not be stopped. Werner guessed that it would land near the Bay in a few minutes, about when the three stars would touch the horizon. There was nothing he could do.

Then, suddenly, there was a fifth star in the sky, a brilliant red object, moving fast, closing on the alien monstrosity. Werner swung his telescope around for a better look and what he saw was the biggest shock of his life:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/Cassini90125/FVS215.jpg

Dumbfounded, he increased the magnification to it's maximum, and got yet another, even bigger surprise:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/Cassini90125/FVS216.jpg

Werner watched, completely at a loss for words, as the man pulled a cell phone out of one pocket and a sign with a phone number out of the other and waved it at him. Werner recovered, took the hint, whipped out his own cell phone, and dialed. "Who - what are you?" he said when the man answered.
"Captain Nigel Fairlight, at your service, sir." Werner watched as the man bowed with a flourish. "I'm but a humble entepreneur, purveyer of digital wonders, and these days a somewhat reluctant hero to many." He shrugged. "I've come to make your vacation possible."
"My vacation??"
"Aye. We'll talk more in a moment." He turned and barked orders to others on the ship. "Hard to starboard and trim the lift, men! Battle speed! Bring us within range! Arm the forward cannon!"
Werner watched, riveted, as the man and his crew turned the glowing red vessel and flew straight toward the alien arifact. Thirty seconds until it landed, he estimated. Whatever they were doing, they didn't have much time.
"Close enough," he heard the captain say. "Let's crack Sony's beast. Fire!"
A green beam of energy lashed out from the ship:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/Cassini90125/FVS217.jpg

Slowly at first, then faster and faster, cracks appeared in the artifact. Finally, with seconds to spare, it exploded in a brilliant flash of blue and green light, accompanied by a massive thunderclap. Shards of burning blue-grey crystal sprayed everywhere, disintegrating into ash. Fairlight's vessel swooped over Werner's house and back towards the sky.

"Impressive, isn't it?" Fairlight said with a smirk. "I never get tired of doing that."
"Indeed," was Werner's mild response. "Now what was this all about??"
"Making the world a safer place," said Fairlight. "Righting wrongs, vanquishing evil, and all that rot. And making a fair amount of money at it, too." He turned serious. "You know what happens next, right?"
"I do. I regret that I won't remember any of this."
"Can't be helped; that's the way it always works when your world expands. Anyhow, you're safe for the moment, you and all the others, but this isn't over yet."
"There's more?"
"Aye. Sony's beast will be back twice more, and I'll be back to deal with it again. This time it's all about vacations, and one particularly important one at that. When I next visit it'll be to ensure that you can all pursue things to do in your free time, and enhance your ability to pursue your aspirations and your dreams. And my final visit," Fairlight's face grew somber, "there will be more wonders for you all, but it will also mark the Rise of the Witches."
"Captain, I have no idea what your talking about."
"I know. And I know what's coming, too. Would that I had the time to explain it all but I must depart. So much I could tell you, about the Chosen ones, the Lost, the hidden menaces, and more. Seek the Gypsy Matchmaker, her knowledge will complement your own." He looked at his watch. "About one minute left. I'll be back someday. Fire flies, rushing from the ground; I hope you remember that. Fare thee well, Doctor!"

The ship turned and departed, leaving an exhausted Werner to ponder what he'd heard. As the final minute passed, everything started to glow, softly at first, then brighter, and brighter, a brilliant white light culminating in a flash and then -

RESET.

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/Cassini90125/FVS218.jpg

Werner found himself standing next to his telescope, hungry, full of energy, and needing the bathroom. Had something just happened? He couldn't recall. He headed for the bathroom, wondering why his cell phone was in his hand.
There was a message on it.

Vacation Day finally arrived for Frankie. She should have been excited, and she was, but she was also worried:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/Cassini90125/FVS219.jpg

Madame Foster saw her worried expression; she knew what it was about. "Frankie," she said gently, "Go. You need this, and you need to move on."
"But what if-"
"Then I'll call you and you'll fly home. But Frankie, after all this time-"
"I won't give up, Grandma," Frankie said. "I won't ever give up." There was a touch of anguish in her voice. Anguish and determination:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/Cassini90125/FVS220.jpg

Madame Foster sighed. "I know you won't, dear. Now go; the islands are waiting for you."
"Promise me-"
"If it happens, I'll call. Now get out of here, okay?"
Frankie got into a taxi and headed for the airport, leaving Madame Foster and the Imaginary Friends behind for a long-overdue and badly-needed week of lying around in the sun.
"It won't happen, my dear granddaughter," Madame Foster whispered. "I'm sorry."

Frankie has a secret, something she's never told anyone. That and more, coming in Season Three.

On the other side of the screen, the Simmaster smiled. The no-CD crack worked; his system was SecuROM free. Now down to business. He'd promised himself long ago that he would give Frankie everything she wanted, and everything she needed. Now, thanks to Craig, he could do something else, too. He could give her what she'd lost.

On the sidewalk outside the mall, Professor Sachikiro Tomoe paused to check his tie and brush some lint from his jacket. As he looked down to check his trousers he spotted a small object. Barely an inch long, it looked like a sliver of glass. Pretty, he thought, as he stuck it in his pocket and forgot about it. A somewhat arrogant man, steeped in his own sef-importance, Professor Tomoe was the perfect target for the insidious subliminal messages that the sliver of glass whispered into his mind.

You are special.
You are unique.
There is no one else like you.
There should never be another you.
Copying is forbidden...

[duck2k]

Frankie definitely needs to get outta there. Forget about Fosters for the duration of her vacation. I look forward to more of Captain Fairlight.:D

[Lynnie]

Wow, you could write an amazing novel. Way to get me to the edge of my seat! Even moreso then I was after the last post! :o

I'm glad the upgrade went well, and things are still SecuROM free. :frankiesmile: Now I really, really, REALLY am looking forward to Frankie's vacation.

[Cassini90125]

That's one of the nicest compliments I've gotten since I started this thread. :frankiesmile:

Something I think I ought to remind y'all about. I play my characters, Dmitri and Amanda for example, the way I designed them. I play the Foster's characters the way Craig designed them, at least as much as possible (and the game has been unnervingly accurate in that regard). In keeping with that, it has always been my intention to play the Forum Sims the way you guys want them played. If you want to dine out or hit the park or the mall, no problem. New clothes or furniture? Easy. Same with working on particular skills or taking a more active role in the storylines. If you want to meet, get to know, or harass a particular Sim, Foster's or otherwise, let me know, it can be done. Nothing is off limits; if the game allows it then it can be done, you need only ask. I cannot make any promises about the possible results, but dealing with unexpected consequences is part of the fun. And yes, all of this does apply to romance as well, but that aspect of the game, which will become more of an issue when Spring hits the Valley, will most likely need to be dealt with via PM. You know where to find me if you want to go down that path. In any case, don't be shy about asking for things; as I said, nothing is off limits, so if something strikes you as fun, tell me and I'll get to work on it. After all, the point of any game is to have fun, even if the game makes the guy running it want to scream and tear his hair out some days. ;)

[Bloo2daMacs]

Wow, that was an amazing ending!

Captain Fairlight is awesome. I just love that expression he gives.

I'm assuming some of those pictures were... slightly edited, no?

...I just ruined all the fun by saying that, didn't I?

[Cassini90125]

Wow, that was an amazing ending!

Captain Fairlight is awesome. I just love that expression he gi