Introduction:
When I was a kid, I had an invisible friend named Benny. He and I had many an adventure together. I was a big fan of the Hardy Boys stories as well as an old show from the 30’s called Little Rascals or Our Gang. My uncle had a big collection of their shows on VCR tape. Since our TV got bad reception besides this my parents thought regular TV was worthless. I watched a lot of movies some of them were old when my dad was my age, some my grandfather watched when he was boy.
Fast forward now to a few years ago 2003 I believe. I met Wolfie (Wolfenblu) on an AOL writers club I read her story called a Golden Summer and fell in love with her characters in that story. It was about two boys in the 1970s. She had written it for her relatives. We started talking and both found out we were playing Sims as well and I wanted to make a sequel to Golden Summer and illustrate it with Sims. She told me that she had written other stories involving some of the other characters but I was welcome to Sid and Butch, and Topaz, because she had never planned to use them again, and Jeremy wouldn’t be important to any of her stories until Junior High.
I was so excited, because these characters really were nicely developed and that is always been a problem with me was developing characters. I brought Benny my old invisible friend in to introduce the club, which was not in Wolfie’s story at all but as a kid I had always wanted to be in a club and have buddies.
Now we had Our Gang with a twist of Hardy boys thrown in.
The club consists of :
Butch the leader. Strong, a good fighter, with a bit of a temper and opinionated. He is good hearted and kind, and a hard worker. He is the third oldest in a large family. Mom stays at home, and dad works construction, and drives taxi in winter months. His favourite saying is "What ever floats your boat," or "I will give you something to cry about." He can not stand sissies or cry babies.
Topaz (who was called Buckwheat until someone told me it was kind of racist and I was only paying homage to the first Buckwheat. So her real name was Topaz so she went back to that name). If Butch is the brawn of the club she is the brains. She has a love of history, a love of maps, and a nose for a mystery.
She has a collection of maps from around the county of some places most people don’t know exist.
She lives with her huge family of 3 aunts a great uncle, and cousins, brother Del who is a rock solid citizen teenager. Her little brothers. Being the only girl she has her own room and her mother likes to spoil her a bit. The family owns a restaurant called Shady Spot. Her favourite thing to say is, "We have to do something!"
Sid the friendly funny guy always ready with a joke or a quip, but never mean or snarky really. He is Butch’s younger brother. But has no temper, and would like to really know and befriend anyone interesting. Sid is fond of gags and jokes, but nothing to harm or humiliate. Sid loves new words, and likes to use them. He can be annoying but I never get tired of his humour and his love of life.
Skeeter the kid who is such an optimist always positive and good-natured. He also is friendly but quieter. He is the kind of kid who would play his heart out for a team. But he is pretty clumsy and not much of an athlete although he really wishes he was Willie Mays. His favourite saying is, "This is the best ---- ever," fill in the blank. Skeeters parents own a small grocery.
Joey and Josie are twins, they are both hard working good dependable kids. They really don’t have the personality others do but they are kind of side kick characters. Their parents on a nursery and flower shop which fits in so well with Sims2. They don’t have a lot of freedom other kids in the club do, they have to help at their parents store. Their parents are hippies, and cool as parents go. Josie wishes she was as good as Topaz in sports, and Joey wants to be an astronaut.
Benny totally my own character patterned after my old childhood buddy. He is an only child so he and Skeeter are kind of drawn together. Being the only kids in the club. Benny is very interested in a lot of different things. He is smart and pretty talented in making things work. He is pretty happy go lucky. In the first story I ever made of him, before the club. He had a stepfather and I found he was just kind of useless to my story so he left Benny’s mom. They live at a motel she inherited from Benny’s deceased father’s grandfather.
Jeremy was the next member to join after Benny, Butch was against him joining because of his friend Nicky "five fingers discount" Tortelli. Butch doesn’t like Nicky, who is Jeremy’s best friend. Butch’s father despises Jeremy’s father, so he has two black marks. But Butch respects Benny, who likes Jeremy a lot, and Sid who also is rooting for Jeremy. The twins side with Benny and Sid, because sometimes they feel like Butch is just too pushy. So Jeremy gets into the club. Jeremy is a guitarist and an artist, and he also has a single father, but many half siblings, which irks him. With the gang Jeremy feels a camaraderie he never had with anyone except maybe Nicky. But his father does not like him playing with Nicky.
Willie the newest member, who isn’t really a full fledged Mystery Island Club member yet, but is almost finished with his recruitment. Willie is quiet, kind of shy, the oldest child of a family of three kids. His father is a fireman. He lives in an apartment and is not too sure of himself yet. He is pretty smart and a really good athlete but modest and unassuming. Rare in a 10 year old. He is my own character as well, not taken from Wolfie’s story.
Karli is also mine, the new girl, she is another one of those girls the boys like, she is tough, smart, but a bit more girlie then Topaz a tomboy to the bone, and Josie who is also good at sports and likes to rough house. She is introduced in this story and I am not sure how much she is going to be in the Club although Josie and Skeeter both really want her in. But as Jeremy fades out of the club in middle school I may need someone to be more of an antagonist to Butch. And I just can’t see the others being that. Benny is too diplomatic. So as a writer this is something I will have to see, I never planned on having Willie, but the story "Prank Calls", needed an unfamiliar setting, Willie’s apartment building.
Starting at the top left is Central school where they all go to school.
Top left is a lot of businesses and shops, Crown Pawn, Suds a matic, and in the back the Tortelli house.
Facing the school to the left are brownstones where Willie lives, Cinema, police station (small version) and the set for Jeremy's da's garage roof.
To the right is the Shady Spot where Topaz and her family live, Polka Pop, and some other stores and a bar called Harbour Lights.
Far left front is Hearts Drive in. (no one lives there right now and at times I move the big police station there for some stories)
Then Warwick Super Eight, where Jeremy lives with his dad and current girlfriend and assorted kids.
The little pink building is the Donut Hole.
Across the street is Moonlighters Motel, where Benny his mom and assorted people live. Motel guests, Bennys teenage friends Vinnie and Melody, and extras.
Across the street from the motel to the right in the yellow house is where Butch and Sid live, with their parents, teenage brother DJ, teenage sister Laurie, and three younger sisters. It's the kind of house all the kids in the neighbourhood hang out. Cool parents and always food and comfort available. Kimmie and Dale are the really good kind of parents most kids would dream of having.
Next to this is Corner Market, where Skeeter lives, the park and the club house.
Across the street from this is Devereaux Florist and Nursery, where the twins live with their little sister.
(In the story of course these places are a bit further apart. But I only have Vacation after my other computer crashed. My old ME is going strong)
Now here is the latest story from me, thanks Wolfie for putting this on your page, and Inge for giving her permission.