Scott 1: Round 10

And so we return to the beginning for round 10 of Tranquility Bay! As always, we begin with the Scott family consisting of parents Tangerine and Jack and their two remaining children George and Morgan. Plus a few cats.

Well, I can see round 10 is off to a rousing start...George, why are you outside in the middle of the night if you have the flu?

George: I wanted to get the cat inside.

Trust me, George, the cat will be fine. You, however, will not be if you don't get back in bed.

Ok, again...why are you emptying the litter box if you have the flu?

George: Well, it used to be Topanga's job...but she moved out. Then it was Alan's...but he moved out too. And Morgan's too little.

George: Hi, Grandma!

Apple: Hi, George. I just came by to watch Morgan for a few hours.

Well, at least something is going well around here...where's your mom, by the way?

George: She's at the bakery.

Umm, Tangerine? Wouldn't the bakery be doing better if you...I don't know, stayed inside and didn't distract the customers by playing catch with them?

Tangerine: Don't question my methods, ok, I know what I'm doing.

Topanga? What are you doing here?

Topanga: Mom asked me to come by.

Oh...I see. It's time for Topanga to take her cats to her new house.

I sure hope Ocean is ok with this...

Bye, kitties!

Doesn't the house feel too quiet now with the cats gone?

Tangerine: Are you kidding? It's great. Now I can focus on my work.

Uh-huh...but don't the kids miss them?

Tangerine: No, I think she's too little to notice.

What about your other child?

Tangerine: Huh? Oh, right. I'm sure he'll get over it.

Wait, what? Already?

Tangerine: (clears throat) I'm blowing out the candles...

Fine...Happy Birthday dear Tangerine...

And Tangerine gets the awkward combination of gray eyebrows and normal hair that all female elders in this town seem to have.

And I guess this only makes sense...kind of morbid that it happened right in front of your parent's graves. Sorry you didn't get a cake.

Jack: That's ok. We really don't need any more baked goods around here.

Topanga: Ahh! You know what, I think I'm going to head home now...

That's probably for the best.

Oh, come on...what did he ever do to you? You liked him when you were alive!

Ok, different wallpaper, different counters...back at the bakery?

Tangerine: Yup.

I thought you had a baker to work the kitchen?

Tangerine: That old bag up and quit on me yesterday. Said she couldn't handle the conditions anymore.

So, are you going to hire another one?

Tangerine: No way! My expenses are way down now. We're actually starting to make money!

Gee, a business making money. Who would have thought?

Tangerine: I don't know why the schools keep making you learn this useless stuff anyway. You should be learning more important stuff.

George: Like what, Mom?

Tangerine: Like how to take care of yourself later on! How to fix things, how to clean...how to cook. That's a great idea, actually. Why don't you go study cooking for awhile?

George: But I still have half the worksheet left!

Tangerine: Just fill in any old number. It's not like it's a test.

George: But...it's writing.

Studying cooking?

George: Yeah. Mom says it's more important.

How are you going to explain the unfinished worksheet to your teacher?

George: I'll just rip that part off and say that Morgan ate it.

Having a toddler sibling can come in handy sometimes.

Hi, Jack. Haven't seen much of you recently.

Jack: I've been mostly up here with Morgan when I'm not at work. Tangerine is a bit...more distracted than usual since the baker quit.

Couldn't crank out enough at the bakery?

Tangerine: It's easier if I do the baking at home. Then I can focus on selling during the day.

Isn't that eating up your groceries?

Tangerine: We have that garden out back. The kids can eat from that.

George: Mom! I got an A+!

Pretty good, considering that Morgan, ahem...ate...some of your homework.

Tangerine: That's great, honey...yes, I need another load of groceries, please. Yes, I know I just ordered one this morning...

Looks like George is about to lose his excuse...Happy Birthday, dear Morgan...

Not bad.

Morgan: Um...thanks.

Tangerine: I never realized what was in that toy box...how does this thing work, anyway?

George: Mom, could we talk about that later? I have to finish this homework. I can't tell my teacher Morgan ate it anymore; she'll be there too and my teacher will just ask her.

Let me guess...studying cooking?

Morgan: I don't have homework yet.

I see.

Oh, boy...fight breaking out at the bakery. I guess the last of the berry pies is a highly coveted item...

George: And then you just add that last bit of berries over the top, and you're done!

Venus: That's great...but my mom won't let me use the oven. Does yours?

George: ....No, not yet.

Tangerine: Ok, let's get this done quick...I've got to get back into the kitchen.

Well, Tangerine's 2 for 2 on the bad homework advice this round...

Tangerine: Oh, when are you due?

Harmonica: Um...soon-ish, I guess. I really just wanted to buy a layer cake...

Can't help but notice you're doing restocking, too.

Tangerine: Can you believe it? He quit, too!

And I'm assuming you're not hiring another one.

Tangerine: No way! I'm down to one employee to pay. I'm raking it in! 

So now you're saleswoman, baker, and restocker.

Tangerine: Yup!

Well, this should be fun to watch.

Let's revert to fewer companies...

Oops...

Man, great day for everybody I see. 

At least the kids are safely outside...working in the garden in the dark.

Huh? Ok, two things here...why are we adopting another cat? And doesn't Sizzle live somewhere? Some family in this town has a cat named Sizzle, I'm sure of it...did somebody give up a pet without telling me?

Ahh, well that...both explains everything and confuses me more. 

Ok, ignoring the cat's prior existence for a moment...why another cat? I thought you were happy to get rid of the ones you had?

Tangerine: Morgan wanted a pet, and we already had a lot of cat stuff still hanging around.

I guess you didn't get to bond much with the ones you had when you were little, huh?

Morgan: Not really.

Don't you want to play with the new cat?

George: No! I miss my old cats. She's not the same.

Congrats on the promotion, sorry about the flu.

Jack: Thanks, and thanks.

Morgan: Look what I can make her do!

George: I don't care. She's not as good as the old cats.

Hi, Celery. What are you doing here?

Celery: Grandma called and invited us all over. We even brought the cats.

That should make George happy.

Which I guess is fitting, since it's his birthday. Happy birthday, dear George...

And you are still a Halpert through and through. Have you chosen an aspiration?

George: Yup!

George: I'm going with pleasure!

Great. But since it's the last night of your week, I think you'd better wait another round before heading to college.

Oh, of course...have to go out the way we came in...

Seriously, this is what police work looks like in this town?

It seems to work, though.

And now that everybody's up, why not a dance in the living room at 4am? I think this is where I'll make my exit. See you guys next round!

A Message From the Mysterious Voice: This lot never ceases to surprise me. First, about Sizzle. An astute observer may have noticed that in Sizzle's relationship panel was the teen version of Abigail Warner...Destiny was there too, just on the next page. Evidently, that family (who I imported from an old neighborhood that I used to play pre-prosperity) got imported again somehow. You think I would have remembered making them all townies again and putting the cat up for adoption, but apparently I didn't. So now there is a much younger clone of Abigail and all her siblings, plus her parents, walking around town. Don't think that's not being brought up again. 

Other than that, this lot was annoying to get through. Between Tangerine's rapidly crumbling bakery, and George's stubbornness about losing the cats (seriously, his wants panel was full of wants to interact with them all week-hence why I invited Topanga's family back over) it felt like it took forever.