Don't shoot the messenger
 

(It's a little choppy, but it says most of what needed to be said...)

Foster's Valley - "The Biography Of Miss Frances Foster"

(Parts of this chapter come from Craig or were derived from things he told me. Additional details are in the Frankie Discussion Thread.)

Frankie thought it over for a moment, then began. "I was born on July 25th, 1984. Mom told me I was a handful when I was a toddler; I cried a lot and didn't sleep much." Frankie laughed. "Might be why I never had any brothers or sisters."
"Happy childhood?" Watube asked.
"I guess," Frankie shrugged. "Kind of average, I'd say. I was a little shy but I got along well with the other kids. Played with Barbie, ran around the yard, those sorts of things."
"Got along well with your family?"
"As well as I could." She sounded wistful. "Mom was quiet, kind of distant sometimes. She cared about me but she had trouble saying so. Dad was a workaholic, pretty strict, too. He was more interested in climbing the social ladder than anything else. He didn't care for pets or Imaginary Friends and he certainly didn't approve of what my Grandmother was doing, turning her House into a foster home for abandoned Imaginary Friends. He'd been planning to buy it from her but when Foster's opened that idea was out."
"You didn't live there, then?"
"No. Dad got his own place after college. The three of us lived there until I went to college. He sold the place in my freshman year. It didn't matter to me much; I practically lived at Grandma's at that point anyway."
"How about your Grandfather? The show never mentions him."
"I never knew him; he died long before I was born. Quite a character from what Grandma told me; prim and proper like Mr. Herriman but full of mischief and a real sense of humor. I wish I could have known him."
"He and Mr. Herriman, were they rivals for your grandmother's attention?"
"What? Where'd you hear that?"
"It's one of the theories floating around the web."
"Oh. I hadn't read that; I don't go near the fansites. No, they weren't rivals, they were all very close. As a matter of fact, Mr. Herriman had a hand in getting them together."
"Really? I never knew that."
"Yeah. After his death both Mr. Herriman and my grandmother were inconsolable. He retreated to the attic, she became kind of aimless. Eventually my father made an offer to buy the House; Grandma was going to accept. She went to clean out the attic and found Mr. Herriman was still there and realized how close she'd come to losing the other most important person in her life. She cancelled the deal; my dad blamed Mr. Herriman for that. That's why he dislikes Imaginary Friends so much, and why he never let me have one of my own."
"Yet you created Miri anyway."
"I did." Frankie sighed. "It was back in 1st grade, right after 'Bring your Imaginary Friend to school' day. I was one of the only kids there who didn't have one. I felt so left out. I'd cried about it before and back at home I cried about it again that night. My parents were tired of hearing about it and they sent me to my room. I hadn't planned on creating one but I wanted an Imaginary Friend of my own so bad that it just sort of happened."
"Understandable."
"You might think so but I was sure my parents wouldn't. You've read that you get the Imaginary Friend that you need, not just the one you want, right? I needed one that badly, but in the back of my mind I knew I needed to keep her hidden, too, so when she came into being she was the size of a grape."
"She's grown a bit since then."
"The Valley does that to Imaginary Friends. I don't know how or why but this place humanizes them."
"Good friend?"
"Oh, Miri was the best!" Frankie exclaimed. "Playful, outgoing, sometimes hyper, sometimes lazy. She rarely cleaned up after herself, often snored," Frankie laughed at the memory, "and complained that the Barbie Dreamhouse I kept her in was too big, too pink, and stank of perfume."
Watube laughed. "Sounds like she was quite a handful."
"She could be; she was very feisty sometimes and kind of a troublemaker but very sweet, too, and was always there for me."
"How did the two of you get separated?"
"I don't know. I honestly don't know. I went to school that day and when I got home, she was gone."
"You must have been frantic."
"You bet I was. Worse, I couldn't tell my parents or ask for their help. I wasn't supposed to have an Imaginary Friend to begin with; they would've gone through the roof. They knew I was upset but I wouldn't tell them why. Kind of made our relationship worse. It never really got any better. I searched everywhere for weeks but never found a trace of her. Eventually I remembered that my grandma was running a foster home for Imaginary Friends so I went to her for help. She was very understanding and dreamed up the idea of letting me hang around the House all the time. She told my father that if I hung around there, maybe I wouldn't want an Imaginary Friend of my own and would quit whining at him about it. He bought it, and I started hanging around Foster's more than at my own home, even sleeping over a lot, all while still searching for Miri and hoping that maybe she'd find her way to Foster's on her own."
"Didn't you tell anybody else?"
"I told Mr. Herriman, who said I was irresponsible for losing her. Yeah, that really made me feel better." Frankie rolled her eyes. "I felt guilty enough about it, I didn't need to hear that. But I thought he was right so I begged my grandma not to tell anyone else in the House; I was scared that they'd all think badly of me for losing Miri. She said she wouldn't, and she made Mr. Herriman keep his mouth shut about it, too. I told Wilt a couple months later but no one else."
"Why Wilt?"
"He knew I was depressed; he's intuitive like that, with kids. One afternoon he sat down next to me and asked why I seemed so sad. I couldn't talk to my father about it but I figured Wilt was the next best thing, so I told him. The next day he went out searching. I've thought of him as a father ever since. He never found a trace of Miri but he found a lot of other lost Imaginary Friends over the years, which is why he gets named Friend of the Month so often."
"You think of him as a father, then?"
"Yeah. Always have, always will, and he thinks of me as a daughter." She smiled. "We told each other that shortly after I got out of college. We hugged, Grandma said 'Awww' and took a picture, and Eduardo got all weepy. He's pretty sentimental. Grandma still has the picture on her dresser. I formally took over as the House caretaker the next day and I've worked there officially ever since."
"How was school?"
"Hard." Frankie sighed. "The work wasn't bad but after class I usually went home and to the House right after. I had to be there, in case Miri showed up, you know? Didn't take long for me to get a reputation as an oddball, that weird girl who hung out with Imaginary Friends all day. It wasn't too bad in grade school but it got worse in high school. I rarely went out with the few friends I had and almost never dated. Never had a boyfriend, either, not a serious one anyway. It was a lonely time in my life. I mean, yeah, I'm surrounded by Imaginary Friends all day so I always had someone to talk to, but I need human friends, too. I went without all that, without much of a social life at all, because I wanted to be at the House in case Miri found her way there. I really got depressed about it as graduation neared; I was sure she'd turn up by then. She never did, though. I almost missed the prom, too; I ended up going with Wilt, since there was no time to try to get a date."
"That must have been awkward, going to the prom with an Imaginary Friend."
Frankie shrugged. "I managed. We danced once, talked with some of the people there, and went back to the House. That's it. Not really memorable but it was okay. I started college soon after; things were better there, people were more accepting. I met my best friend Kathy there. Anyway, Dad sold the house after I enrolled and I moved to Grandma's once and for all. I worked there, too; that and a couple odd jobs here and there, plus a scholarship and some money I got from Grandma and my parents paid for everything. After that... well, you've seen the show, you know the rest, and you know what my grandma did."
"The CN plot? Yes, I heard about that."
"Yeah. I'm glad we got past that. Eventually we moved to the Valley, and now there's a huge gap in my memory, and everybody else's, too. The only thing I remember from that time is the night Saturn rose in the sky; I'll never forget that." She paused for a moment. "I saw it again the other night, too. I think I was dreaming."
"Dream or not, it's significant," Watube said. "When Saturn appears, whether to one or to many, it means something important is going to happen to those who see it. Are you familiar with the Valley's ancient mythology?"
"I'm not, sorry."
"Read it sometime; there is much to be learned from the old texts."
"Well, what I'd like to learn right now is how to get Miri away from Dylan. Are we done yet? You said you had something that could help me."
"We are, and I thank you for telling me your story. You have been through much, Miss Foster, and I sense that there is more to come in the future. One moment, please." Watube got up and went to a closet; a moment later, he presented Frankie with a large box:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f1...5/S03FFV71.jpg

"I think you will find this most useful."
"What is it?"
"A little island magic. Use it wisely, for it's power is great. Now, I think you ought to return to your hotel and get some sleep; you're going to have a busy day tommorrow."
"That I will. Thanks for this. And thanks for listening, too; I needed to get that all out."
"My pleasure, Miss Foster."
Frankie smiled and left:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f1...5/S03FFV72.jpg

Watube smiled and looked at the night sky, remembering the night that he'd seen Saturn himself. It was last night, less than a day before Frankie arrived.

Back at the hotel, Frankie had barely gotten to her room when the phone rang; Madame Foster was on the other end:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f1...5/S03FFV73.jpg

"Frankie, we can't find her! Wilt is tearing the airport apart, and Mr. Herriman is questioning everyone who was on the flight, but she's not here!"
"It's okay, Grandma, she's at Dylan's place."
"Dylan Lee? That letcher?" Madame Foster figured it out a moment later. "He's using Miri to force you to date him, isn't he? That scoundrel! We'll get the rest of the gang and storm his place!"
"Don't, Grandma, he's expecting something like that. I'm not putting Miri at risk. Don't do anything unless I call, okay? I need to handle this myself."
"How?"
"I've got it all worked out" Almost all, she said to herself. "By the way, do you have Duchess's phone number?"
"555-HAGG. Why?"
"I'll tell you later. Just sit tight; I'll have everything under control soon." They said their goodbyes at that point. Frankie went down to the beach and opened the box Watube had given her. There was something inside; she took it out to look it over. She could see the power emanating from it. And it had a name:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f1...5/S03FFV74.jpg

"Hello, Mr. Mickles," she said softly. "Glad to meet you." The object, a plushie, said nothing. Frankie returned it to the box and turned to watch the waves. A malicious smile formed on her face as she sang along with the hotel music, an oldie by the Eagles:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f1...5/S03FFV75.jpg

"Somebody's gonna hurt someone
Before the night is through
Somebody's gonna come undone
There's nothing he can do..."

Just a few more posts to wrap things up. Stay tuned... ;)

Is it me, or is that a voodoo doll?

Whoa, Cass, that was awesome! :smed:

Lols. Great stuff, as always. :up:

You know, it's kind of strange (for me, anyway) to think of Mr. Madame Foster as ever actually having existed. For all intents and purposes, Mr. Herriman is really Madame Foster's significant other, and, if merely by default, my brain has kind of hard-wired itself into picturing that as the way that things have always been (yeah, Madame F's bloodline has very evidentally continued, but, strictly speaking, that in itself wouldn't prove that she was ever married at any point - and though in French, the term "Madame" generally denotes a married woman, in English I understand it to have a somewhat looser meaning). Oh well, it's interesting.

Haha, I love Duchess' phone number. 8D

You did excellent on Frankie's bio. :frankiesmile:

Duchess' phone # is epic win, hehe. :clap: Wow, so that's why Frankie is at Foster's! Fascinating, I'm loving every bit of it. And for the record, I read all the above in Grey's voice, so it feels so real to the show to me. :frankiesmile:

Phew! I just got done reading this whole thread. (took like 5-9 hours!)

You got some nice stuff Cassini. You had me laughing and enjoying the whole experence.

Just to ask, is the NF members as Sims thing still open? Is so, I would like to join. (And man, you really made me want to go out and buy a Sim's game! :D)

Whoo! Just finished reading it up to this point; it's brilliant! :D Can't think of much else to say right now, but good job ^^.

For the few of you who are wondering why I haven't updated this thread in so long, here's what's been going on.

First of all, my main computer system, the one where I play the game, broke down. To be more specific, it's suffering from something known as a "Partition Error". The data on the C: drive is inaccessible and remains so, and I presently have no way to fix it. Hell, I don't really even know what a "Partition Error" is. I do know, however, that there is no way in hell I'm going to waste $300.00+ and two weeks time by letting the Idiot Squad at Best Buy get their useless hands on it, so I'm waiting for my brother to find the time to give me a hand. In the meantime, the C: drive is shot. Fortunately, by coincidence I had backed up all the game files the day before, so absolutely nothing was lost. Of course, all this happened while I was in the process of escaping from Retardo Land, so my attention wasn't focused on the game anyway. After I settled in here I briefly considered running the game on my laptop but that's not really an option; the graphics errors are horrendous. The game plays there, albeit slower than normal, but getting decent pictures is difficult at best. In addition, there was still the unresolved problem of the game crashing while playing on Community Lots, which was just plain unacceptable. So what I eventually did was to reinstall the game on my main system's G: drive, which took a few hours, and I started wiping out as much of the downloaded custom content as I could bear. After that I deleted most of the hacks I use and replaced them with updated versions; a lot of hacks need to be updated after every new expansion pack. After I took care of all that I fired up the game, ran tests in three different neighborhoods, and it worked. Faster load time, no more crashes. Overjoyed, I added the last expansion packs, and that's when the new problems showed up; specifically, stupid and pointless animations and Sim behaviours included by the nitwits at EA games. I am convinced that EA game designers all live in their parents basements and don't know much about how real people act. So off I went to MATY, Simbiology, MTS2, and other sites, intent on tracking down new hacks to correct such things. All found, all installed, all working. Nothing left to do but load Foster's Valley and see what happened. What happened was that I sent Amanda Blue to the mall where she watched TV and broiled some hot dogs while Terrence and Gabe the Valley Pest discovered a mutual dislike of each other. And, most importantly, NO CRASH. Everything worked exactly as it's supposed to So, at this point it's safe to say that the game is finally running properly again, and at last I'll be able to finish the story of Frankie's vacation. After that, we'll be having a chat about some of the new expansion pack goodies and what you want your Sims to do with them. And then it's on to the next stories. :frankiesmile:

Foster's Valley is back again. :frankiesmile:

Glad to hear Foster's Valley is back, Cassini =) I *hate* computer crashes.

Geez, that sounds like loads of fun.::) Glad to hear it's up and running again though, and I'll be looking forward to more crazy Foster's Valley adventures.:)

Wonderful news. And don't forget, you promised my Sim a new stereo. :bloogrin:

Glad to hear your computer issues have been resolved, at least temporarily. Man, a lot of computer problems have been going around lately, huh? Almost feels like it's a computer "cold" going around the forum here. :o

I look forward to seeing the FV characters back in action. :frankiesmile:

Frankie slept fitfully that night, wound up from the events of the past few days. When she woke up she was still a little tired but eager to get on with the day, excited at the prospect of finally having Miri back in her life and determined to teach Dylan a lesson he'd never forget. First things first though, and after a quick shower it was time to check out:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f1...5/S03FFV76.jpg

"It's been an interesting vacation, Marty," she said to the bellhop. "Can you call me a cab?"
"Already done, Miss Foster," Marty said. "I heard about what's been going on, with you spending your time trying to chase down your Imaginary Friend. I'm sorry you didn't have the relaxing week you'd planned on."
Frankie waived it off. "Things happen," she said. "Maybe I'll come back here someday, after things calm down. This really is a great hotel, and a beautiful island with a lot to see and do. Nice people here, too."
"Oh, I've no doubt you'll be back someday," Marty smiled. "We'll look forward to seeing you again." He started to say something else but was interrupted by the sound of a helicopter landing outside. "Ah, your ride is here," he said.
Frankie looked at him in surprise. "You called a helicopter to take me to the airport?"
Marty smiled again. "Complements of the Twikki Island Hilton," he said. "Faster than a cab, and after all, we are a full service hotel."
Frankie smiled, thanked him again, and was out the door, heading for her aeriel ride:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ju0YRTX76Y

And with that, she was on her way to the airport. It was an uneventful flight, albeit a noisey one. She had to shout to make herself heard over the sounds of the rotors as she pulled out her cell phone and made a call.
"Hello, Duchess? I need a favor..."

........

Dylan approached the door to a back room in his basement, carrying a plate bearing a bologna sandwich. Miri had been locked in there for a couple of days; in that time, he'd forgotten to feed her. When he'd found her at the airport she'd been finishing a Big Mac so he didn't think she'd be too hungry. Besides, didn't Imaginary Friends eat less than real people? He didn't know; he'd never had one of his own. He'd never known Frankie had one either, until she approached him, Big Mac in hand, and asked, "Hey, dude, how do I get to Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends?"
"Creator threw you out?" he asked, not all that interested.
"No, she works there."
"What? Waitaminute, you... you're Frankie's Imaginary Friend??"
"Yeah, you know her? Frankie Foster?"
Dylan pulled out his wallet and showed Miri a picture of Frankie. "She's my girlfriend," he lied. The plan formed in his head on the spot. "Foster's was closed for renovations yesterday," he continued smoothly. "Won't take long, maybe three or four days. Frankie's staying at my place until it's done." Things fell into place from there. Miri wasn't too sure at first but a few more believable lies, playing on her intense desire to be with Frankie again, did the trick. During the drive back to his house she'd babbled constantly about all the things she'd gone through in the past 17 years as she tried to get to Foster's; he barely heard any of it. He was thinking only of finishing his interrupted date with Frankie. When they got home, he'd led her down to the basement, where "Frankie's room" was, and while he felt a pang of guilt when she looked surprised to see that Frankie wasn't there, and another when he said, "You'll be staying here until Frankie and I finish our date" and locked her in, he brushed it off. He had other things on his mind.

Dylan opened the door. Miri was sitting on the lone chair in the room, legs and arms pulled up in a fetal position. When she saw him she pulled her sweater over her face, seeming to try to retreat into herself. Dylan really didn't feel too good about this. He spoke as soothingly as he could.
"Hey. You okay?" No response. "Look, I'm sorry, really, but I had to do this." Again, no response. "Are you hungry? I made you a sandwich." One of Miri's big eyes peaked over her sweater; Dylan thought he saw fear in it. "I'm not going to hurt you. C'mon, you've got to eat, right?" He moved the plate closer. Miri's hand tentatively reached toward the plate; Dylan extended it closer to her. Miri reached for it, and with surprising speed and strength, grabbed his arm, pulled it close, and sank her teeth into his wrist. It wasn't fear he'd seen in her eye; it was pure, calculating malice.
"YEEEOOWW!!!" he yelled as he jerked his arm back. The plate landed on the floor and broke; Miri scooped up the sandwich and began eating it. "Sheesh, kid, what's wrong with you?!"
"What's wrong with me?" Miri growled as she ate. "You lied to me about my creator, locked me in your basement, didn't bother to feed me for two days, and you're asking what's wrong with me?? What are you, a retard?" She finished the sandwich and advanced on Dylan, yelling all the while:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f1...5/S03FFV77.jpg

"Listen, you putz, I have been trying to get back to my creator for 17 years. I've been towed out to sea on a garbage barge, had to cut my way out of a fish, gotten lost in every lawn between here and who knows where, fought with mice, rats, crabs, ants, and everything else, and when I'm almost at Foster's, bam! Frankie's grandma packs up the entire friggin' house and moves all the way to the Valley, and I have to start the entire trip over again, except now it's like ten times longer than before! So what happens next? I get to the Valley, I start growing from grape size to child size, then there's a huge blank spot in my memory and I'm on that island, hiding from the social worker, shacking up with a ghost, and trying to get enough cash to get to the mainland so I can finally be with Frankie again, and I'm almost there, and then you trick me and lock me in your :censored: basement to try to force my creator into a relationship she doesn't want!"
"Wow," said Dylan. Miri had obviously been through a lot. "Look, she does want to be with me, ya know-"
"Yeah, right, Dylan. Oh, did I tell you I figured out who you are? While trying to get to Foster's I saw the cartoon. Took me awhile but I put 2 and 2 together while starving down here. Sheesh, you're a jackass. Trust me she doesn't want anything to do with you. Me, on the other hand," she scooped up one of the sharp pieces of the broken plate, "I'd just love to spend a little time with you." She advanced on him again.
"Good grief... what kind of Imaginary Friend are you?!?!" Dylan said, axiety rising in his voice as he backed away.
"I'm the part of Frankie that she wasn't allowed to express," Miri growled, her voice tinged with anger. "I'm her mischief and her playfulness, the part that doesn't want to grow up. I'm the part that doesn't want to be nice and sweet and a proper young lady, the part that wants to strike back at what hurts her. What kind of Imaginary Friend am I? I'm your worst nightmare, Dylan Lee. I'M FRANKIE FOSTER'S DARK SIDE!!!" She lunged at him with the shard of broken plate. Dylan bravely shrieked, ran out the door, and slammed it shut as fast as he could. On the other side, Miri howled in rage:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f1...5/S03FFV78.jpg

While Dylan, badly shaken, did his best not to wet himself:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f1...5/S03FFV79.jpg

It began to dawn on him that this whole plan migh be a very, very bad idea.

To be concluded in the next post. :frankiesmile:

Heh heh hehehe, looks like she's taking well enough care of herself to worry about Dylan hurting her. :bendy:

I'm loving the whole story, keep it up Cass! It's great seeing a post in this thread again. :frankiesmile:

OMG, that last picture of Dylan practically wetting himself still has me laughing.8D

That is just great! Dylan deserves all that is coming to him!:frankiemad: It must be nice to get picked up and flown back on an HH-65 Dauphin helo!:frankiesmile:

Oh man....Dylan's in for it now. 8D

Dylan is BUSTED!! 8D I wonder how Frankie's going to respond to this!

That was awesome XD.

Idea.


Make Frankie hair, go to Foster's, get Frankie to the mirror and change it. It looks nothing like frankie in my opinion.

It looks pretty accurate to me..

(Also, making new hair isn't as easy as that :x Recolouring hair is, but to make completely new hair requires knowledge of how to make meshes. It's not as easy as it sounds.)