#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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That night, while still under the effects of Smart Milk, it was time for Thorn to age up. No party for him, after Nimue's big get-together earlier that day, so everyone just gathered in the kitchen with a cake. Iris helped her nooboo blow out the candles...

... and he aged up! Looks like he likes orange too, so there won't be any trouble moving him into Nimue's room when she moves out next round.

For now, though, he's relegated to the single bed in the corner of Iris and Derrick's room, just like Nimue had to put up with for a while when she was a teen.

The round came to an end that night so here's a family photo!

At the end of the round, Derrick and Iris are both 41, Nimue is 19 and Thorn is 4 and ready to start school (as we can see from the school bus just pulling up outside when I took the picture)! Nimue will be moving out next round to her own place to free up some room in this little two bedroom house.

The next family is Frost, who just moved out and who we'll now call the Grimsbane family!

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One of Nimue's first wants as an adult was to have her First Woohoo... naturally. But Thorn was downstairs playing with his toys in the only room with a double bed. Nimue decided that 10am was the perfect time for Thorn to go down for a nap.

"Nap time, Thorn!" she said cheerily as she scooped him up and plonked him into his crib.

"Okay, Nim-Nim!" he said and obediently lay down to sleep.

Nimue felt a little guilty but hey, a grown woman has needs!

While the party carried on upstairs (without music or TV - I hope no one is listening), Nimue brought Thomas downstairs so they could have some adult time together in her mother and stepfather's bed. Well, that certainly pushed the party into 'Good Time' status!

After the party, Nimue went over to the Town Hall, where Jennifer had started posting job listings in the foyer so that people would no longer have to call her directly. Nimue saw the job opening as a Yearbook Supervisor in Journalism and leapt at it. Even though it was very much the bottom of the rung, she hoped she would be able to rise through the ranks quickly.

Back at home, Iris was teaching Thorn the last of his toddler skills - a nursery rhyme. This kid is very lucky compared to his brother and sister, who both had to struggle through with no/very few toddler skills (and have fewer aspiration reward points now as a result). Anyway, he's fully ready to age up now!

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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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Iris and Derrick headed downstairs to her bedroom for their first Woohoo...

... and afterwards, still glowing with happiness, Iris decided to get down on one knee and propose while still in her underwear. Derrick of course said yes! I think every single (straight) couple in the neighbourhood has had the woman propose so far. That's quite a funny trend!

They decided to move in together straight away. Derrick briefly considered returning to his home to pick up his PC so he could still game, but he realised that they wouldn't have anywhere to put it in Iris' house so he just left it.

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Round 7 - Summer 2 (Part 2) - The Grimsbane Family

ROS for the Grimsbanes is to invite over family members (they don't have any) and for Iris to befriend her kids (she's already BFFs with them). So pretty much nothing. Ah well!

The round starts with the kids running for the school bus, which I thought was amusing as Frost (despite being a rebel) isn't sloppy enough to trigger the untucked shirt variation of the teen uniform. He still wants to look nice, dammit!

As soon as the kids were gone, Iris invited over Derrick Phillips for an at-home date.

They spent some time making out on the couch and promptly fell in love with each other.

Safe to say I'm excited!

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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.