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Welcome to the Childhood (2: Ladies and Repomen)
((Author’s Note: Welcome to the Childhood “crosses-over” the series Occasionally Yours, by TSR’s Spladoum. You can probably get by reading just one or the other, but it’ll be way more fun if you read both. Way.))
((Author’s Note: Welcome to the Childhood “crosses-over” the series Occasionally Yours, by TSR’s Spladoum. You can probably get by reading just one or the other, but it’ll be way more fun if you read both. Way.))
Valley Elementary School, 9:00 AM For the past week, the students in Jules Simanski’s first grade class have been working on a homework assignment to create their family trees. Today that assignment is due. Leo Sekemoto, for one, is glad to be done with it.
[Leo:] “This homework was really no fair.”
[Jules:] “How come?”
[Leo:] “Cause my family is huge, and then I had to put in the divorce part—”
[Jules:] “Whoa, Leo, not so loud—what if Miss Crumplebottom hears you?” [Leo:] “Hears me what?”
[Jules:] “Saying the bad word.”
[Leo:] “What bad word? You mean ‘divorce’ ?”
Jules nods, looking furtively around for their teacher.
[Leo:] “Divorce isn’t a cuss word, it’s just a regular word for when grown-ups get un-married to each other. Sometimes you are so weird, Jules.” Jules’ face reddens. Not only had he not known ‘divorce’ was a regular word, he also hadn’t been quite sure what it meant, other than something… bad. [Leo:] “Look, Jules. I’ll show you.” [Leo:] “See my brother Sam over here? Our dad used to be married to his mom, but then they got divorced and now our dad is married to my mom.” [Jules:] “But what happened to Sam’s mom? Where did she go?”
[Leo:] “She lives in the big Port city now. Sam goes to see her there. Sometimes.”
Jules’ shivers. He doesn’t feel well, thinking about this. Jules’ discomfort causes Leo discomfort, so Leo does as his father would do. He tries to change the subject. [Leo:] “So, um, who helped you with your family tree?”
[Jules:] “Well, my whole family, really…”
[Jules:] “My Mama helped for awhile, until she got the sniffles when we were making the part about her mama and dad…” [Jules:] “Then my Dad helped for awhile, until he got a headache when we were making the part about his mama and dad…” [Jules:] “So then Uncle Jesse helped me finish it.” [Jules:] “See?” [Leo:] “Um. Jules. What’s that drawing on the pictures about?”
[Jules:] “The horns on my Grampa and Gramma Marquis? My Uncle Jesse did that. Funny, huh?”
[Leo:] “Well, yeah, but… I don’t think Miss Crumplebottom is going to think so.”
The following day…
[Jules:] “Aw, dang it.”
[Leo:] “Told you.”
Meanwhile…
The Pennylane Institution of Psychiatric Services (PIPS)
For the first time, Jesse Simanski is sitting in psychiatric group therapy with his brother and Dr. Evelyn “Eve” Elfman. While the session focuses on Jono, Eve is pleased with the progress. Utilizing Jesse’s ability to calm and redirect his twin away from an anxiety attack, Eve believes that within a few weeks, Jono will be capable of spending significant time outdoors. Which is progress indeed, for a patient diagnosed with level III agoraphobia. But when Eve attempts to turn the focus of the session on Jesse, all progress grinds to a halt.
[Eve:] “Jesse, last week you mentioned to me that you’d only had one girlfriend in the past. Can we talk about that today?”
[Jesse:] “That was high school, Doc. Ancient history. Way over it.”
His tone is casually dismissive, but there is an underlying edge to the statement that leads Eve to doubt its validity. For some time now, Eve has suspected that Jesse Simanski’s emotional and psychological development have been significantly impaired since his mid-teens. But he is proving difficult to clinically diagnose. Unlike his twin, Jesse is socially functional for the most part, and his behavior is inconsistent. Almost selective. [Eve:] “Alright then. Can we discuss the large number of women you’ve hooked up with that were never your girlfriends?” [Jesse:] “Look, it’s not a big deal. Most of them were regulars at Whistler’s Friday night keg parties. The rest… most of the rest were work-related.” [Eve:] “Work related?” [Jesse:] “You know, like the bad repoman is here to take my flat screen, so maybe I can convince him to give me a few more days to make my payment? That kind of work-related.” What he’s saying suggests a pattern of indiscriminately promiscuous behavior spanning years, with a distinct lack of any lasting relationship over that entire time. And he talks about it with less enthusiasm than he has when he talks about video games.
[Eve:] “Jesse. Where did you learn this type of behavior was in any way acceptable?”
[Jesse and Jono:] “Whistler.” Eve remains silent for a moment, processing this new information. She has met Terrence “Terry” Whistler, Jesse’s current boss, and knows that the man has been a friend to these brothers for many years. More than that. A mentor. Without Whistler’s interest and assistance, the twins would’ve ended up in the foster system shortly after becoming orphans at sixteen. But perhaps Whistler’s influence wasn’t entirely for the best either. The rest of the session is equally unproductive. Watching them depart, Eve realizes she needs to be better prepared for the next session if she’s going to make any progress at all on the Jesse half of the Simanski twins. Later that same evening…
The Simanski house, 7:00 PM
At dinner, Jules isn’t too worried about having to tell his parents about his grade on the family tree assignment. He’s pretty sure they won’t ask him about it, and he’s not wrong about that. His Uncle Jesse, on the other hand… [Jules:] “So, um, where’s Uncle Jesse?”
[Jono:] “Over at Whistler’s.”
[Dani:] “Making that silly video for that internet girl.”
[Jules:] “Cool! Can I see it when it’s all done?”
[Jono:] “Yep.”
[Dani:] “Well, somebody should, Jules. Since the girl your Uncle Jesse wants to see it probably won’t.”
[Jono:] “Oh ho, you are so wrong about that. Care to wager?”
[Dani:] “Hm, let me think. Is there anything I might want from you that I need to win a wager to get?”
[Jono:] “Not a whole lot, no…”
Seeing his parents like this, Jules feels a lot better than he did yesterday when Leo told him about ‘divorce.’ Jules still isn’t entirely convinced the word isn’t a cuss. The few times he’s heard it at home, it sure sounded like a cuss. But he hasn’t heard that word around here for awhile, not since his Dad and Uncle Jesse brought his Mama back home from faraway France. Now that he knows what divorce actually means… what a relief that is. Jules is also relieved that Uncle Jesse wasn’t at dinner tonight. He probably would’ve asked about the grade on the family tree… and Jules doesn’t want to hurt his Uncle Jesse’s feelings by telling him about the D. Which he’s pretty sure stands for ‘dunce.’ Meanwhile…
The Whistler house / Whistler Collections Co.
The Repomen, with band members Jesse Simanski, Denny Elfman, Johan Poindexter, and Terry Whistler, have just finished filming a cover of Def Leppard’s “Photograph” … for the sole purpose of Jesse Simanski getting the attention of Gwen Glover. Gwen is a little-known musician residing in Foxgrove, America, on whom Jesse has had a raging crush since chancing on her authorized fansite six months ago. Windy Whistler and her fellow high-school-senior friend, Sam Sekemoto, have been running the technical side of the video creation. Windy is now uploading the results for Jono to work with on his computer at home. She’s a little nervous about this. For her own reasons, she didn’t quite follow the specifications Jono gave her, and she’s worried he might be a bit ticked off. She’s not wrong.
[Jesse:] “Hey, Jono… sure… Windy? Jono wants to talk to you. He doesn’t sound happy.”
[Windy:] “Um, hi…?”
[Jono:] “Windy, what is this? You’ve got more footage of the other three guys than you do of Jesse! I told you, this is supposed to promote —Jesse— not the whole damn band!
[Windy:] “Sorry, Jono…”
[Jono:] “Forget it, it’s okay, we’ll fix it. Put Jesse back on.”
[Jesse:] “Aw, do we have to do the whole thing over again? Denny will be cool, but Whistler and Dexy might lay the smack down on me if I tell them that.” [Jono:] “No. The soundtrack is fine. Good, in fact. We’ll just shoot the video over again. With just you.”
[Jesse:] “Okay… where?”
[Jono:] “Your trailer. Come home. We’ll do it right now.”
Later, that same night…
Jesse Simanski’s trailer (Simanski house side yard), Midnight
[Jono:] “That’s it. Video’s posted and we sent her fansite the link. Now we wait.” [Jesse:] “You really think she’ll watch it?”
[Jono:] “It’s all about her, Jesse. I know she’ll watch it.”
Two days later… [Jesse:] “She thinks I’m cute SHE THINKS I’M CUTE!” [Dani:] “You’re kidding. She actually responded?”
[Jono:] “That’s not all she did. She posted a video response, too.”
[Dani:] “. . .” [Dani:] “Wait, Jesse—”
[Jono:] “Let him write what he wants, Dani. I’ve read this girl’s blog. Nobody needs to edit him, he’ll do just fine on his own.”
Two days after that, Gwen Glover’s fan-inspired video “Jesse’s Girl” has spread all over the internet, as Gwen fanboys and fangirls everywhere are posting their own tribute videos in a frenzied effort to gain a similar response. Strangely, although the start of it all, Jesse’s video—if not his first name—remains fairly overlooked. But not, apparently, to Gwen’s agent, who recognizes a publicity gold mine when she sees one… …not to mention an opportunity to pick up a new client.
[Jesse:] *skims: Gwen Glover… May 20th… Foxgrove… xxx-xxx-xxxx… Viv Miller*
Jesse immediately dials the number in the letter, where the call is answered by a Star Type Casting employee identifying herself as “Louanne.” He never actually speaks to Viv Miller herself. Instead, he suffers through a load of information he has no interest in, until finally getting the answer to the only question he has: Is Gwen Glover going to be there? The answer is in the affirmative. To say Jesse Simanski is ecstatic with this news is a colossal understatement. Later that night…
[Dani:] “Jono… I’m beginning to think setting Jesse up with Gwen wasn’t such a good idea.”
[Jono:] “Why’s that?”
[Dani:] “I don’t think this is healthy for Jesse. He’s… obsessed with that girl.”
[Jono:] “He’s just going to meet her, Dani. If anything is going to cure his crush on Gwen, it’s actually meeting her.”
[Dani:] “What has Eve said about it?”
[Jono:] “Nothing. Jesse hasn’t told her about it.”
[Dani:] “Well, maybe you should tell her.”
[Jono:] “That’s not going to happen, Dani. The day I start spilling crap in therapy about Jesse before he spills it himself is the day he stops going to therapy.”
Dani can’t really argue with that. Like Eve, Dani believes that having both Jono and Jesse in group therapy is a good idea, and jeopardizing Jesse’s ongoing attendance isn’t something she wants to do. But this whole Jesse2Gwen thing… Dani has never seen Jesse so hyped-up on a girl. Well, not since sophomore year in high school, anyway. And she isn’t seeing how this could possibly end well. [Director’s Commentary:] Although many of you already know this, screenshots from lookingforthejoke’s SimTube video can be seen in the RatRaceRob gallery, and screenshots from GwenGlover’s SimTube video can be seen in Spladoum’s gallery. If you’ve already seen Jesse’s, there’s no genuine need to go there again. It hasn’t gotten any better with age, I warn you.
((Special Thanks to:
* TSR Artists: LivingDeadGirl (Emma Set), Blackgarden (small desks), lwsupremecy (Trespassers Will Be Offered a Shot), paramiti (Dunce kitten), tdyannd (sidewalk chalk), CycloneSue (terrible objects too numerous to list, including a keg that Whistler can set a bottle on, huzzah)
* Around The Sims: Classroom Set, Pub Set, Studio Set
* TSR’s Spladoum for ongoing crossover awesomeness
* Many cc creators already credited in this series and my previous series
* Any and all cc creators that I’ve failed to credit by name, apologies to you, and thank you, too
> Readers-to-the-end-credits—what can I say but you light up my nest with heart wallpaper… is it warm in here or what? ;) ))
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29 Comment(s) posted so far
#20 On Mar 20, 2011 fabrizioammollo wrote:
Your story is spectacular! I loved the intelligent and sweet humor that pervades the storytelling. The shots are great as always: such a carefulness for details! I'm still laughing
! I'm very glad to see that Jono and Dani are getting along that well. I have high hope for Jesse... 
. Many congratulations on the well deserved feature! 
#21 On Mar 20, 2011 -kalisa- wrote:
D = dunce
LOL I'm afraid I'm starting to fall in love with Uncle Jesse 
That can't be good 
Wonderful screenshots and congratulations on the feature! 
#22 On Mar 21, 2011 wrote:
thank you
#23 On Mar 21, 2011 Mangio wrote:
Congrats on yet another well deserved feature
The first part was EXTREMELY amusing.. 
The kids talking about divorce.. so very cute. Jesse is so cute, love the comments they posted. The expressions yet again were absolute perfection 
I wonder what happens next when we venture into another chapter.. can't wait for more 
#24 On Mar 21, 2011 hilaldilara wrote:
#25 On Mar 22, 2011 mogan44 wrote:
Congratulations on being featured again! I LOVE this story. You are so ueber talented it's not even funny!!!!!!
#26 On Mar 22, 2011 urm0m wrote:
Brilliant!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Screen 17 has made me smile and giggle, a lot!
#27 On Apr 10, 2011 sara_ashley wrote:
amazing part
!!
#28 On Jun 8, 2011 Taaadi wrote:
Haha! Great story!!
#29 On Jun 22, 2011 ShelleyB wrote:
2 much 2 mention... I loved Jesse in his Alice Cooper tank top, the Simanski family tree (right down to the snooty patooty's horns and tails) and para's Dunce Kitty poster!! The interaction between the two boys--Leo and Jules--is priceless and I love the way you have used YouTube to enhance the story between Jesse and Gwen. I could keep gushing and gushing, but have more to read. Love your work with April! xoxoxo