#iris grimsbane

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That night was Thorn's 1st birthday. Derrick was still at work so Iris and Nimue celebrated on their own. Iris helped Thorn to blow out the candles...

... and he aged up! Such a cutie! And I finally remembered to start rolling for glasses in Round 8... 😄 They make sense for him though and look really adorable!

When Derrick got home from work, he was responsible for putting Thorn down. I loved Thorn's little pink pyjamas to match his hand-me-down pink crib and Iris' all pink room! Smash those stereotypes, Thorn!

[northknot-hq]

It’s time for the costume contest voting. Below the cut you will find a list of all the characters’ costumes and an additional list for couples’ costumes (both platonic and romantic). By clicking on this link, you will be able to vote for your top three costumes in five categories. You should be voting for individuals in every category except for the couples one. Please vote by the 1st of November so the winners can be announced before the end of the event. If I’ve missed any of your characters or couples on the list, please message me via the main. Happy roleplaying!

Aalis Albrecht - Morticia Addams (Addams Family)

Adelina de Salazar - Gamora (Marvel)

Aiden Carlisle - Danny (Grease)

Alexandros Sallas - Sharkboy (Sharkboy & Lavagirl)

Ariadne Rosi - Kim Possible (Kim Possible)

Aries Stark - Medusa

Astra Grimsbane - Shego (Kim Possible)

Athena Miller - Pinata

Benjamin Cole - Jedi (Star Wars)

Caliphe Topaz - Cinderella (Cinderella/Disney)

Caleb Findlay - Johnny Castle (Dirty Dancing)

Callista Albrecht - Princess Leia (Star Wars)

Cassian Callaghan - Jedi (Star Wars)

Charlotte Monroe - Glinda (Wizard of Oz)

Christian Davies - Banksy Artwork

Clary Gooding - Wednesday Addams (Addams Family)

Eleanor Grimaldi - Jean Grey (Marvel)

Elijah Blackthorne - Eleven (Stranger Things)

Elsa Morgan - Harley Quinn (DC)

Emilia Santiago - Rose DeWitt Bukater (Titanic)

Erik Blackthorne - Joker (DC)

Everett Moore - Pugsley Addams (Addams Family)

Halliwell Brookes - Baby (Dirty Dancing)

Hecate Black - Princess Peach (Super Mario Bros.)

Illiris Delphine - Ariel (The Little Mermaid)

Iris Belmont - Sarah Sanderson (Hocus Pocus)

Isabella Santiago - Pink Power Ranger (Power Rangers)

Juliet Robinson - Sandy (Grease)

Kinsey Simons - Princess Leia (Star Wars)

Laurel Parks - Elle Woods (Legally Blonde)

Lettie Cunningham - Bumblebee

Lilith Aine - Mary Sanderson (Hocus Pocus)

Louis Byers - Wolverine (Marvel)

Maggie Drakos - Zarina the Pirate Fairy (Tinkerbell)

Mariza Tanner - Devil

Miles Greenwood - Jack Dawson (Titanic)

Mini Mink - Eric (The Little Mermaid)

Natalie Dawson - Lavagirl (Sharkboy and Lavagirl)

Noah Greenwood - Iron Man (Marvel)

Nova Blackthorne - Flapper

Olivia Bancroft - Dorothy (Wizard of Oz)

Orlaith Callaghan - Poison Ivy (DC)

PJ Simons - Indiana Jones (Indiana Jones)

Quinn Morgan - Ursula (The Little Mermaid)

Sebastian Young - Scary Pumpkin

Seraphina Blackwell-Byers - Lara Croft (Tomb Raider)

Sloane Carlisle - Holy Cow

Waverly Monroe - Black Swan (Black Swan)

Zac Narvaez - Luca (Luca)

Couples/Groups Costumes

Aiden & Juliet - Danny & Sandy (Grease)

Alex & Natalie - Sharkboy & Lavagirl (Sharkboy and Lavagirl)

Ariadne & Astra - Kim Possible & Shego (Kim Possible)

Caleb & Halliwell - Johnny & Baby (Dirty Dancing)

Everett & Clary - Wednesday & Puggsly (Addams Family)

Louis & Eleanor - Wolverine & Jean Grey (X-Men/Marvel)

Elsa & Orlaith - Harley Quinn & Poison Ivy (DC)

Miles & Emilia - Jack & Rose (Titanic)

Illiris, Mini & Quinn - Ariel, Eric & Ursula (The Little Mermaid/Disney)

Iris & Lilith - Sarah & Mary Sanderson (Hocus Pocus)

PJ & Seraphina - Indiana & Lara (Indiana Jones and Tomb Raider)

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Round 8 - Autumn 2 - The Phillips Family

ROS for the Phillipses (formerly the Grimsbanes) is a power outage for two days of the round. Nice and simple. Let's go!

The round began with Frost moving out. We'll catch up with him next.

Iris started her morning by snuggling with nooboo Thorn. I don't blame her - he's so cute! I'd forgotten how much I missed having babies and toddlers around. We haven't had any since Sage!

Nimue, meanwhile, moved straight into Frost's room. She redecorated it to suit her colours and much preferred the bright orange room even though she had to keep the furniture.

(Really it's just that I finally caved and downloaded a bunch of @poppet-sims' brightly-coloured wallpapers. I've spent 19 years trying to decorate houses with the vanilla game floors and walls and everything just looked so bland all the time. It's much better now!)

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After Kaine's birthday, Iris took the family outside for a little surprise - she had dug up some fireworks and sparklers from somewhere in storage!

"It's Summerfest!" she said. "I remember celebrating Summerfest as a kid back in my hometown - we used to have a big festival with fireworks and all kinds of food stalls and there was music... There's nothing like that here, obviously, but I thought we could light some fireworks to celebrate, even if we do nothing else."

Making sure to keep well back (and to keep themselves between the nooboo and the fireworks), they watched the rockets whoosh into the air and cheered excitedly. Thorn played with a sparkler and Kaine cried at the noise and bright lights.

"Oh, sorry nooboo!" Derrick apologised. "We should have thought. Come on, it's bedtime for you anyway."

And with that, it was the end of the round for the Phillips family!

Iris and Derrick are now 51, Thorn is 14, and Kaine is 1.

The next family will be the Grimsbanes - Iris' eldest son Frost, his wife Emma and their daughter Isadora. However, I'm taking a (hopefully brief) hiatus to catch up with gameplay/editing/filling up my queue so their round won't be up for a while!

Thanks for your understanding - see you soon!

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That night was little Kaine's first birthday. They didn't bother throwing a big celebration as he was so young ad wouldn't remember it anyway, but they still made sure to bake a cake and gather around to cheer for the nooboo.

Happy birthday Kaine!

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By the time Iris finally got home, she was exhausted. She dragged herself inside and collapsed onto the couch. Thankfully, Derrick had anticipated this and was already preparing dinner.

Iris couldn't hide her appreciation. "You're a superstar, Derrick. Whatever you're cooking smells amazing. Thank you."

Thorn got home not long afterwards and the family sat together to enjoy their spaghetti.

"How was your first day, Thorn?" asked Derrick.

Thorn shrugged. "It was okay. I wasn't really on the base; I was just supervising some paintball games out in the desert. But hopefully if I keep at it I'll get a promotion soon!"

He finished off his plate and excused himself. "I really have to do my homework. I can't let my grades slip!"

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Judo aged up into a fully grown dog! No idea what breed he is but he's very cute.

Conrad popped by to see how the newlyweds were getting on.

"Everything okay, big bro?"

Derrick sat in stony silence before finally responding, "Iris is pregnant."

"Isn't that... good news?"

Derrick frowned, "What if the nooboo inherits my condition?"

Conrad laughed, "I don't think that's going to be a problem, Derrick. No one here minds, do they? It doesn't affect you all that much other than an urge to howl every now and then. That affects the people around you, I guess, but only because we need to pee when you do it, so what does it matter if the nooboo is like you? He or she will still be cute! I can't wait to be an uncle!"

Feeling somewhat reassured, Derrick invited Conrad to stay for dinner.

Nimue came home from school that afternoon with a new friend - townie Drew Tucker. She had a bolt of chemistry with him but, despite a bit of flirting, they didn't get a crush on each other. He decided not to stay for dinner.

Dinner was sparkly spaghetti. Iris was in bed as her pregnancy was already hitting her hard, but everyone else sat down together.

"I miss snow," Conrad was saying. "We used to have loads of it where we used to live. It's weird never really having winter at all! But I guess I can't complain about the hot weather."

"So are you like our uncle now, or what?" asked Frost.

Conrad smiled. "I guess? Step-uncle? Is that a thing? I'll be your new brother or sister's uncle though! I'm very excited about that!"

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When Thorn arrived home, Derrick was waiting for him by the mailbox with good news.

"Thorn! Your mum got it all sorted for you - you're starting as a Paintball Attendant this afternoon! Your carpool comes in an hour!"

Thorn looked at his report card and groaned. Even though he had done his homework the night before, it hadn't improved from a B. He wanted to maintain his grades so he found himself suddenly wondering if a part-time job was such a good idea after all.

Still, he'd committed to it now so he thanked his dad and headed inside to use the bathroom and change.

Thorn climbed into his carpool an hour later and, with one son sorted, Derrick spent some time with the other one! He changed Kaine's nappy and fed him before putting him down for another nap.

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Iris spent the day at her clothing boutique. It was busy, with lots of customers clamouring for clothes, rugs and curtains. Unfortunately she didn't manage to rank up but she did get her Gold Restocking badge at the end of the day!

She used the profits to stop by Horacio's car dealership to buy a car for herself and Derrick to use. She loved flying everywhere on her broomstick, but now that she was getting older her balance wasn't what it used to be and it would help to have an alternative!

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Derrick decided to use one of his vacation days so that he could spend the day bonding with his new son and give Iris time to visit her store.

"Good morning, Kaine!" he said, scooping him out of his crib. "We're having a daddy son day today! It's going to be fun!"

He took him upstairs to feed him, excited to spend the day with the nooboo.

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True to her word, as soon as Thorn had stepped foot on the school bus, Iris got on the phone to Mayor Jen.

She explained the situation clearly, leaving out the part where Thorn wanted to snoop around the base of course. "He's just keen to do something physical, you know? Use his hands. Get a bit dirty. Do you think you could get him a job on the base?"

Jen acquiesced. "They're on a recruitment drive so I'm sure they'll be glad to have him. I actually asked them not to try and enlist our kids, but if it's what he wants..."

And by the time Iris hung up the phone, she'd secured Thorn a job as a Paintball Attendant after school.

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The next morning, after celebrating the arrival of his new little brother, Thorn had some thoughts to share with his parents.

"I've been thinking. Now that I'm a teen, I think I would like to get a part-time job."

They were impressed at his go-getter attitude.

"What would you like to do, sweetheart?" asked Iris. "You could come and work with me and Emma at the store if you like?"

"That's kind of you, Mum, but I was actually thinking of joining the Military."

Derrick frowned. "The Military? Why?"

"Well, I might want to go to university in a few years and I've heard that if you enlist as a teen then they fully fund your tuition. Plus, they don't let civilians on that base of theirs at all and I really want to find out what they're hiding. They must be doing something."

Again, his parents were impressed.

"Okay, I'll call Mayor Hansen-Wiggins for you and see what I can arrange while you're at school," said Iris.

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It was another boy! Welcome to the world, little one! I really hope he gets his dad's nose. Both Thorn and Frost have Iris' nose and it is LONG on boys! 😂

Derrick finally got up to say hello to his son.

"Any idea what we should call him?" Iris asked.

Derrick considered. "Well, we gave Thorn a witchy name and it turns out he's not a witch or a wolf. Shall we try giving this one a wolfy name? I was thinking something like Kaine."

Iris considered it. "Kaine Phillips... okay, sure! I like it. Hello Kaine!"

The nooboo burbled happily.

Derrick smiled. "I think he likes it!"

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In the middle of the night, Iris woke up in pain. She knew instantly what was happening. After all, even though it was years ago, she had done this three times before.

"Derrick," she whispered. "Derrick, get up."

"Mmph," came the reply. He rolled over and continued snoring.

Well, the screaming will wake him up, she thought to herself.

The pains came hard and fast. She hadn't been expecting a long labour but this was over in an instant. Hoping she wouldn't ruin the rug, she knew it was time to push...

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As the party came to an end, Nimue hugged her beloved stepdad goodbye.

"I have to get the kids home, but I love you both and I'll see you soon. You've got a good kid in that brother of mine," she said. "And hey, take care of my mum, okay? I can't believe you got her pregnant again at her age but I can't wait to meet my little brother or sister... and introduce my kids to their little uncle or aunt!"

Derrick grimaced. "Oof, yeah. That'll be weird, huh? Especially when they're all at school together."

Nimue chuckled. "You didn't think about that part, huh? Ah, don't worry, they're kids - they'll be fine."

Meanwhile, Thorn was already in his PJs and diligently getting on with the homework that he hadn't finished when his mum interrupted him earlier that day. He is a good lad!

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Trying to cheer Thorn up and take his mind off the loss of Judo, the Phillipses made sure to invite his entire family over for his birthday party that night.

Uncle Conrad, big brother Frost and his wife Emma, niece Isadora, big sister Nimue, nephew Logan and niece Natalie were all there (although the Reids didn't fit in the tiny kitchen for the celebration)!

They all cheered as Thorn blew out the 13 candles on his incredible tiered cake...

... and became a teenager!

He rolled as a bisexual Family Sim (just in time for Pride!) who apparently has a thing for logical old people who can't cook. And, despite having a 50% chance for each of lycanthropy and witchiness, he didn't inherit either trait. He's pure human!