Arcturus was awake. He sat in bed for a few seconds trying to remember where he was though. The bed under him felt soaked but he couldn’t figure out why the bed was wet and his pants were dry. I mean, he had wet the bed before, but this felt different. He reached for the light and noticed that he couldn't read the digital clock on the nightstand. It wasn’t actually displaying a time. All the lines were jumbled. He switched the light on and pulled the covers back. The bed was drenched with blood. Shellie was missing...

Arcturus woke up. He lay there for a few minutes trying to calm down from that nightmare. The bed under him felt wet but this time his pants felt wet too. Phew. Thinking about his troubling incontinence over the past few hours, he looked at the clock. 3AM. “The soul’s midnight”, as they say. He switched the lamp on and saw that Shellie was laying next to him. He pulled the covers back and got up. Since he hadn't actually eaten dinner that night, he was getting pretty hungry. Time to find something to eat!

Arcturus opened the refrigerator. There was a bowl of food with a note: “For Eileen”. Who's Eileen? Whatever. Was that note going to stop him? Hell no. He threw the note on top of the oven and put the bowl in to heat it up. He opened the oven to warm his hands a bit as he stared blankly out the window overlooking the town. It seemed to be getting colder and colder. He checked the dials on the oven to make sure it was on and looked back up just in time to see a ghost woman walking up the steps of the back porch! Arcturus dove into the dining room before she saw him but cursed at himself when he realized he had forgot the food. Goddamnit, he wanted that food.

Peeking around the corner into the kitchen, he saw the woman standing by the oven. She picked up the note Arcturus had thrown there and ate it. "Ok... ok... that was odd," Arcturus thought. Then she took the food out of the oven and sat down at the kitchen table. Was this the Eileen the note was talking about?

All Arcturus knew about ghosts came from his conversations with his old buddy, Flat Broke. They had talked for a bit about his brother, Buck, the burial specialist. Of course, Arcturus figured Flat was a nutjob when he told him about Buck’s ghostly encounters, but apparently it was no joke. Ghosts were real. Flat had said that people who die from unnatural causes take on a certain color in the afterlife. Pink, which was the color of the ghost Arcturus was staring at in the Cheek’s kitchen, meant the person had died of starvation and would forever be hungry.

Arcturus was pretty sure that when ghosts ate food, it fell out of them. That was Slimer’s problem in Ghostbusters, right? Well, this wasn’t the case with Eileen. The stuff she was eating was disappearing… somewhere. Had Ursula left the plate of food for Eileen? Was there a deal where she would feed Eileen as a trade for the safety of her family? If that was the case, Arcturus didn’t feel like he fit into that picture. And Ursula wasn’t too fond of him after he pissed on her kitchen floor earlier, so it was no wonder that she hadn’t warned him about this ghost situation.

Arcturus started to back away from the doorway and bumped into one of the dining room chairs. He froze. Eileen slowly turned her head towards him. They made eye contact and Eileen started to stand up. 'Won't you join me?" she moaned as Arcturus ran for the front door.

The front door was locked though. He turned around to see Eileen floating down the hallway towards him and ran up the main staircase and into the bathroom at the end of the hall. It was a pretty bad hiding spot. Eileen very likely knew the house better than Arcturus did so temporarily hiding was the only option. He couldn’t run forever though. Arcturus left the bathroom door open and hid behind it.

He knew Eileen was getting closer to the bathroom as her pinkish glow lit up the hallway. Even though she had just eaten, Eileen was still hungry and she would eat just about anything at this point.

At least turn the light off in there, Arcturus!

Eileen floated into the bathroom. Arcturus held his breath. She caught sight of herself in the mirror and was distracted for a moment. Arcturus tried to slip out of the bathroom unnoticed but she saw him in the reflection. Her eyes widened, she turned around and screamed as Arcturus took off, stumbling down the same stairs he had run up minutes ago.

He crashed through the house in the dark with no idea where he was going. Finally reaching the study at the very back of the house, he stopped. He hadn’t heard or seen Eileen following behind him. Maybe the living nightmare was over. It was probably too much to hope for. He stood in silence, waiting with his back against the wall. Suddenly, she appeared in the doorway.

“Game over,” he thought, “She’s going to eat me.” The ghost smiled. Arcturus was cornered and she knew it. He braced himself as she floated towards him.

“Come closer. I’m not going to eat you,” she said, as if to respond to his thought. Arcturus questioned this whole experience. “Did she really just want to have a chat this whole time? Was this whole thing in my head?” He took a step forward. They were face to face now.

There was a pause and then her mouth began to open. It opened wider and wider until she could have eaten his whole body in one bite. So, Arcturus hadn’t been imagining it. Eileen was actually gonna eat him. Freakin’ unreal, dude. Arcturus was now glad he had wet the bed. It would be his parting gift to Ursula who had really screwed him over with this ghost situation.

Then, Eileen vanished. Disappearing into a cloud of green gas that was sucked up by her gravestone in the backyard. The sun had risen! Ghosts can only exist by cover of darkness, apparently. Arcturus sighed with relief. That was definitely the closest he had ever come to dying. Second closest was when he feared that Buck Broke was going to murder him a few weeks ago. Riverview was really going to be the death of him, huh?

"Here lies Eileen Remington. So hungry she could eat a person"

Arcturus walked out the front door and got on his bike. He wasn’t coming back here and had lost his desire to one day live in this mansion. There was no way he was going to risk running into Eileen again. He did like Shellie though. Definitely gonna call Shellie.

The House on Haunted Hill

Remember the mansion on the hill of Riverview that Arcturus dreamed of moving into? Well, it was time to visit that place and see what was going on up there. On the sidewalk across the street from his house, Arcturus could see it through the trees. It even looked a little spooky.

Halloween and the trees are still VERY green. Come on, game!

As he climbed the hill on his bike, he worried about who he was going to find in this mansion. Thinking about the last time he tried to visit a house unannounced sent a chill up his spine. By the time he reached the top, his legs felt like spaghetti noodles both from nerves and the epic hill climb.

He rang the doorbell and looked back towards his bike. Never too late to bail, my friend. A woman came to the door before he could escape. Her name was Ursula Cheek. As he chatted with her, a car pulled up behind him and a younger woman got out. Arcturus caught a glimpse of the girl as she walked by him into the house. He said, "Excuse me, Ursula. I'd much rather talk to that hot mama."

"Might wanna lay off the sandwiches," he thought.

Arcturus followed the girl into the house and was shocked by how unnecessarily convoluted the floor plan was. There's some weird recessed basement section in the center of the first floor that doesn't add anything to the house except a lot of staircases. Spanning the dip in the floor is a bridge that was better in theory than execution. The second floor is easier to understand with some bathrooms, halls and bedrooms, but it's no less tragic in design. The third floor is pretty much just a ballroom.

Arcturus followed the girl to a 2nd floor bedroom in the tower portion of the house. She started watching TV so Arcturus just took a seat next to her. Maybe the girl was really into the TV show or maybe she was paralyzed with fear because a strange man just followed her to this isolated room and sat down next to her, but she didn't say a thing. Arcturus finally broke the silence.

"I think it's trash day."

She slowly turned to look at him and he got up to introduce himself. The girl's name is Shellie. She lives in this mansion with her mother, who Arcturus met at the door, and her sister, Diana. She and Arcturus talked for a long time until she complained about being really hungry.

"Hi. Yeah. I'm serious about that trash day thing though."

"Your eyes are cool."

"Best plate of spaghetti I ever had. Bar. None."

"Ah! I'm losing my mind!"

Shellie asked Arcturus if he wanted to join her in the kitchen for dinner and he jumped at the chance to stare at her some more. She made some waffles and they sat down to eat. Well, Shellie ate while Arcturus stared at her like a creepo.

Don't stare at her! Pick up the fork and eat, you weird man!

After she was done, they talked some more by the refrigerator. Diana, came down for a late night snack and was really mad that her sister and some man were blocking her path to food. Arcturus was getting nervous because Shellie wouldn't stop talking and he had to go to the bathroom. Instead of interrupting her and excusing himself, he chose to just urinate in his pants and then stand in it like a child. Ursula walked into the kitchen as the puddle grew under him. He smiled at her. She frowned.

"Is this guy joking?" Diana thought.
"Living on the edge. I'm liking it." Shellie thought.

For some reason, there was something Shellie found attractive about this whole situation. But there was something about it that her mom absolutely hated. Hmph! What a snob!

"That was really awesome," Shellie whispered in his ear.

Shellie told Arcturus that she would help him find a new pair of pants and invited him up to her bedroom. Arcturus was liking where this was going. He was going to try to piss his pants in front of more women! As he passed Ursula on the way out of the kitchen, he said, "Cleanup on aisle #1," and put his hand up for a high five. She left him hanging. Arcturus was not impressed with the snub.
In her bedroom, she whipped herself into some pajamas. Arcturus took off his wet pants and then it was make out time. Cooooool.

"Theef boffers a sill kamma phet."
Translation: "These boxers are still kinda wet."

After a few minutes, Shellie fell asleep. Arcturus laid next to her thinking about how great the day had been. Disregarding the personally embarrassing moment where he, an adult man, wet his pants and ignoring the fact that Diana and Ursula hated his guts at this point, this mansion visit was pretty neat. What Arcturus didn't realize was that the night was far from over...

Betty Visits

Arcturus asked Betty over the next morning. When she got to his house, she rang the bell and started to take a closer look at the decorations he had on his lawn. Arcturus came outside. Seeing Betty interacting with the knick-knacks scattered around made him realize for the first time that he was a single man who had set up a scarecrow on his front lawn because Halloween was coming.

This photo captures his "Ok, she's definitely seeing that scarecrow" face.

He caught up with Betty at the bay window and started talking to her. They have their best (read: only) conversations outside, y'know. Combined with the information he learned about her that one time on the street, Arcturus knew nearly everything about her at this point.

"Best Friends"!

Unless that last mystery trait is "Murderer", I can see this relationship going somewhere. Arcturus suspected that her fear of hugs the other night before was either because she is "unflirty" or because she has a boyfriend. The "unflirty" trait wasn't going anywhere so he would have to deal with this boyfriend somehow. I wasn't sure how to actually make that happen, but as it turned out, all he had to do was ask. Easy.

Click on this picture to zoom in. Lots of info in this screenshot.

Some of the many interaction options Arcturus had were to confess his attraction to her, try for a first kiss and ask her to break up with her current boyfriend. The game told me that Betty was thinking Arcturus was "very alluring" at this point. Arcturus needed to develop on that so he gave Betty a massage as a warm up to asking her to break up with Dallas. Then he went for it.

Well, holy crap, that was easy. After I got this message, I got another immediate message telling me that Arcturus just became enemies with Dallas Swallow. How'd that happen? Had he sensed the conversation between Arcturus and Betty in the air? Was he hiding in the bushes? Arcturus looked suspiciously at his scarecrow decoration. It looked like a man... dressed up... hmm....
Well, the Dallas situation was something that Arcturus would have to deal with later. Right now, things were going great for him. Betty had cooled down and possibly forgotten about all those awkward hug attempts Arcturus made a few nights ago. So, he decided to renew those memories and tag another horrible one onto it by trying to kiss her.

She really likes him so maybe it's just too soon after her decision to break up with her boyfriend. I'm not gonna try to pretend that the kiss went well though. It was awful and it happened on his front lawn among all those Halloween decorations. I was given the message, "Betty thinks Arcturus is being awkward," and I laughed. No way! Really? Arcturus looked around hoping nobody saw what just happened and then asked Betty inside for pancakes. She was up for it.

While they ate, Arcturus talked about silverware and napkins while Betty almost choked to death. She never said anything or looked up from the pancakes, but she did have some positive reactions to the napkin and silverware comments. Slow and steady, Arcturus. At least she's eating in the same room as you.

One of the optional interactions Arcturus had with Betty at this point was "cry on shoulder". Of course it was. Arcturus is such a sad sack that I think the game modified itself on the fly just to include that absurd option.

Betty was late for work so she ran out of the house before Arcturus finished eating. It was pretty rude, but not as rude as the statement she gave before leaving:

"You seriously need to take classes on having fun. I'm thinking a four-year degree at minimum."

Arcturus cried himself to sleep that night. Love is a funny thing.

More Tales of the Consignment Shop

When Billy Caspian, the owner of the shop, opened the front doors the next morning, Arcturus was waiting with his arms crossed. He just walked out the front door and headed to work. Arcturus's boss, Hunter Cottoneye, should wonder why he is late for work every day but probably understands that Arcturus gets into some crazy stuff sometimes.

After work, Arcturus went right back to the consignment shop because he really did want to know what sort of things he could buy there.

"Sorry about last night"; "Let's agree to disagree."; "...Sure?"

The options were not the greatest. There were some books, paintings, some large yard decorations and a camera. He bought the camera. It took pretty bad photos but if he developed his photography skill, he could improve the quality of the photo and other stuff.
After he bought the camera, he sold the consignment shop owner some of the books he had written, including the best-seller, "Do You Think I'm A Cute Boy?" The owner gave Arcturus a puzzled look when he saw that title. Then he glanced around the store, looked back at Arcturus and slowly nodded. Arcturus broke eye contact because things were getting weird.

Anyway, the game informed me that Arcturus would only make money off of the books as long as someone else in town came in and bought them. I guess that's what a consignment shop is? Either way, I think it's safe to say he will never make any money.

After the wheelin' and dealin', Arcturus walked around the counter to introduce himself. Billy was initially a little scared because there was no reason for Arcturus to invade his personal space just to shake his hand. He instantly regretted nodding in response to Arcturus's book title.

"The counter is there for a reason, sir."

All was well though. They just talked about hamburgers for a little bit and then talked about spaghetti. Arcturus needed Billy to know about that plate of spaghetti he made himself the other night. He needs everyone to know about that spaghetti because it apparently changed his life. He'll tell anyone who listens. Billy kinda just nodded at the spaghetti story though. Arcturus turned on his heels and walked out the front door. Bill had really killed the fun mood.

On his way home, Arcturus stopped by the bookstore to see if he could find a book that would help increase his photography skill. There was no such book so I'm confused as to how he actually will develop that skill. I'll figure it out eventually. Maybe he just needs to take a lot of photos and he'll get better.

I bet the bookstore loves that phone sex mural on their wall.

Arcturus finally went home. He still had the rolled up picture of tanks he drew the night before so he hung it up in his bedroom. His bedroom is becoming a really depressing poster den.

Gosh, that looks trashy. Oh well.

The Consignment Shop

  Arcturus's mailbox was sparkling. A gift was coming in over the internet from Mom's character, Apple Sullivan. It was a "mystery box" which means Mom didn't know what she was sending. Arcturus pulled it out of the mailbox and opened it. It was a car. A full sized car. We don't need to question how it fit in the mailbox or why the mailbox was sparkling because Wang Lum is a wizard.

Arcturus is so environmentally friendly that when he saw the car, he threw up. He sent Apple a mystery box back and a thank you note that said, "It was a car. I threw up... from excitement!" He was appreciative but he twisted the truth a bit there if you noticed.

Layin' it on a little thick, dude.

Arcturus was going to call Betty to ask her out but chose to just give her some space for a bit. Yeah, he remembered he was dying, but he wasn't dying that fast. He had a little time to do other things... so he went out shopping! There was a consignment shop on the next street over. He went there to see if they had any cool stuff.

Ahh, the Landgraab Sell n' Swap; where you can buy everything you can imagine as long as your imagination only stretches as far as some shitty books and a mirror.

This place makes no sense. Here's what they have:

• A lounge section. You can see Arcturus in there sitting with some other loser.
• Large clothing section that has no point because you can't buy clothes. It is as useful as the dresser in his bedroom. Well, actually less useful because you can't even change clothes here.
• A dining room table with 8 chairs. In case there's a spontaneous conference.
• A... water pump? I dont know what that is in the center. A water pump on some rocks. Ok.
• A drafting table you can use to "research architectural design" at. Cool.
• The counter where you buy and sell stuff. A man stands there like a robot waiting for someone to talk to him. Best job ever? Yup.
• A few restrooms because you might spend a lot of time here looking at all the empty shelves.
• Empty shelves.

Arcturus wanted to purchase some stuff but was really inspired by the drafting table, so he took a seat and went to town. I was surprised that he had it in him. Some man who looked a bit ill came up behind him and started watching. After a few minutes, Arcturus turned around and asked him if he needed help or something. Without saying anything, the man walked away. Arcturus rolled his eyes.

Arcturus felt someone's hot breath on his neck.

A couple of tanks with graffiti on them is "architectural research"?

Both of the photos above were brightened in Photoshop because while Arcturus was sketching, the man behind the counter shut the place down for the night and turned all the lights out. Arcturus pretty much drew that picture in the dark. He was so focused though that he didn't realize he had no light. When he was done, he titled the drawing "Dirty Blobs" and rolled it up to take home. He was so proud of it that he figured he would hang it up in his bedroom.
Arcturus really should have paid more attention when all the lights went out though because the building was completely empty. He was locked in the consignment shop and now had to wait until morning for someone to come back. He really blew it. Just take a nap on the sofa in the lounge area, friend.

Help! I'm a Prisoner in the Consignment Shop! (An Arcturus Disaster)

The New Girl 

I fixed up Arcturus's house. It's nice because he no longer has a kid's bedroom. Still doesn't really look like an adult man's bedroom, but please don't make me fix it again.

Arcturus received a request from a girl in town by the name of Betty Simovitch. The request stated that she "really wanted a shower upgrade" and Arcturus was the "only Sim in town with the necessary skills to do the job". All of that wasn't some euphemism either.

Arcturus got right to work on her shower because he knew that once he finished, he would have the chance to meet someone new. I didn't actually know what "upgrade" meant and neither did Arcturus. All he did was tighten the shower head with a wrench and then beat the shower head with that wrench. Every once in a while he diddled with the faucet handles too. Before we knew it, the shower had been "upgraded".

As soon as he was done, he put the shower in his pockets and hit the streets on his bike. He certainly did not know where Betty lived or what she looked like, but that didn't matter to him. He seemed so sure of where he was going.

The first person Arcturus saw on the street actually turned out to be Betty Simovitch. She was just standing there. Betty didn't know Arcturus had finished upgrading the shower, so how is it that they both went to the same spot in the world at the same time? Eh, who cares? Maybe he called her when I wasn't looking and she arranged a random meet up point so he didn't know where she lived.

Judging by the thought bubbles over her head showing an image of a newspaper, it seemed that she knew Arcturus was a journalist. She also thought about how he looked like a fool though. It was similar to the thoughts that went through Trigger "Slide Man" Broke's head when Arcturus had met him a few weeks back.

"Trigger Broke was right. He looks like a silly goof," she thought.

Arcturus gave Betty her shower and told her it was upgraded. It meant nothing to either one of them but she paid him $1000 anyway. She didn't even ask why the shower head was dented from all the wrench hits. Ultimately, she should have just bought a new shower with her $1000. She could have saved $400 in the process because they only cost $600.

Arcturus thought Betty was quite fetching so he launched into a conversation. He fit in a few bits of information about herself (she's "artistic" and "family oriented") before he stopped her with a "Let's talk about me now." Arcturus favorite topic of conversation is himself, as we know. She "praised him" over an article of his that she had read in the paper about "possible contaminates in the local pond." This was, like, the first time someone complimented him so he took it a little too far and tried to hug her.

Her hands say 'No!' but the look on her face says, "Oh God, no!"

Big mistake. It wasn't exactly the reaction he was looking for. I wasn't even aware that the reaction to a hug could be that bad in this game. Arcturus apologized and kept talking to her though. They chatted until it was dark out. Arcturus was feeling relieved that they managed to get past that awkward hug earlier but he just couldn't leave it alone. He wanted that hug! So, when it was time to say goodnight, he tried again.

"Sir. Stop."

Snap! Arcturus doesn't have time for this kinda stuff, Betty. Please understand that. Arcturus admitted that it was a really weird end to the night and left. While biking home, he thought about giving Betty a call the next day to see if she would hang out. Despite the "hug problem", their first meeting had gone really well.

At home, Arcturus made some of his favorite meal. He needed to relax a bit and analyze that meeting with Betty. "Should I really have tried to hug her twice... or just once? Probably never, actually."

Anyway, look at his reaction when he realized he had just made spaghetti for himself:

Rivals / Bad News... and Good News!

 Acturus got out from under the thumb of that newspaper girl at his old house, but check out his new one. One morning she dropped the newspaper on the lawn and then started shouting at his front door. He was standing behind her in his undies and was a little confused. What was she so angry about?

"Boo! You suck, dude."

It seems as if there's a thought bubble forming over Arcturus's head in this photo. But what single image could possibly portray what he must be thinking: "Why does everyone hate me?"
I can't answer that question Arcturus, but your mailman might be able to. First of all, this mailman's name is Wang Lum which seems like the punchline to a racist joke. But disregarding that, this guy decided to place Arcturus's mail on the lawn and then...  just take off running.

Oh come on, the mailbox is RIGHT THERE! You're looking at it!

ZOOM! Bye, dude! Thanks for the delivery! Hope it doesn't rain though!

If he had put the mail in the mailbox and ran away like that, I would have assumed he planted a letter bomb.

Meanwhile, the ripples from that first visit to the Broke household are still being felt.

This is a real shame. I was a big fan of Lucky and his top hat. I was just thinking about paying him a visit. I guess I'll have Arcturus write a nice article about him in the paper. I think that's still an option since Arcturus interviewed him at the Broke household.

Oh, that reminds me: Arcturus is back to writing for the paper again. His stint as a Weather Man was short lived. He is now a Lead Reporter. He's getting promoted left and right. I think he was Weather Man for just about 12 minutes total.

In the real world, $215 per hour is about $430,000 a year. Is that what a newspaper reporter makes?