This long overdue post is for those of you who haven't been reading the overblown epic I've been writing in the Sims thread.
As I mentioned earlier, while at the 2008 Con I asked Craig a few questions about Frankie. I haven't told y'all everything he told me, however, and I'm sorry about that. I've always had a habit of witholding info, and for personal reasons I wanted to reveal it in the Sims thread. The story there is mine but it's based in part on what Craig told me. But since not all of you follow that thread I'm posting the facts here as well.
I had asked Craig about some things that were little more significant than Frankie's college major; one such thing was the lingering question about why Frankie didn't have an Imaginary Friend of her own. There were a lot of theories about that; mine had always been that her parents, for whatever reason, wouldn't allow her to have one. As it turns out, I was partially right; Frankie did indeed want her own IF but her parents didn't want her to have one.
She created one anyway.
Yes, Frankie
does have an Imaginary Friend of her own. I'll let you imagine how surprised I was to hear that. As Craig tells it, Frankie's parents were not happy with Madame Foster's work and what she was doing with the House; he left me with the impression that they didn't consider it socially acceptable. Being a child, Frankie didn't care about such things so she created an IF anyway, a very small one ("Not Peas!" Craig added, no doubt seeing an "Oh, no" look forming on my face), which she could hide easily. And sadly, she lost it. Lost IFs go to Foster's, she reasoned, so Frankie started hanging around the House and, eventually, ended up working there. Not as altruistic a reason as doing the job out of the goodness of her heart but it makes sense, and it speaks volumes about her dedication to her Imaginary Friend.
There were some other details too, but that's the real story, from Craig himself. The truth is, Frankie is not at the House because of any of the usual reasons the fans dream up. She has
no romantic interests in any of the other characters, nor they in her, she isn't working to pay off college debts, she isn't doing community service, and she isn't an Imaginary Friend herself. Nor is she there because she loves the work, although she does love her job. No, in the end, Frankie is at Foster's because she is hoping that, someday, her little lost Imaginary Friend will find her way home.
Again, sorry I didn't post this back in August of 2008. As I said, I had my reasons.
My thanks to Craig for clearing all that up for me once and for all.