Author Topic: The Middlemiss Random Legacy (Completed)  (Read 33598 times)

Offline Beks

  • Immortal
  • *****
  • Posts: 830
Re: The Middlemiss Random Legacy
« Reply #15 on: September 10, 2018, 11:52:53 AM »
Chapter 11 – Pavement Pounding

The next morning begins a new era––the era of Roberta. She starts the morning by heading to City Hall and suing for slander—apparently it’s gotten around that she was “seen woohooing with an occult”. (No, I want to say, she was woohooing with a FORMER occult, but of course that doesn’t make a difference to the Twinbrook Tabloids.) Amazingly, she wins the case, even though the accusation is, uh, true.

Afterwards, she applies for a job at the hospital.

Screenshot-10350.jpg

Buddy, meanwhile, gets a job at the stadium. Then he jogs home to start working on his athletic skill.

Screenshot-10349.jpg

The night before the newlyweds’ first day of work, an alien visits the house for the first time! I still find space-related events exciting, even though the last one proved to be very deadly. This alien seems fascinated by the chilly wet stuff falling from the sky. And by Roberta's car.

Screenshot-10353.jpg

I rouse Roberta from bed (unwisely, since she has work in a few hours) and she goes out into the snow to greet him. His name is Sezzad Vajjevoo. Yay, a name I can pronounce! They’re attracted to each other, which is…cute? Roberta really does like those occults, I guess. He takes off in his spaceship soon after.

Screenshot-10355.jpg

Roberta and Buddy have good first days at work, though neither of them gets a promotion. (Buddy is about as close as you can get. I hate that you can’t “Work Hard” in the athletic career.) Buddy also learns that one of his coworkers is none other than Newton, his…uncle-in-law? Is that the correct term?

After work, Roberta decorates the house a little bit for winter. There’s not a lot to work with, but she finds an extremely large icicle ceiling light for the kitchen (like really, it’s so large, these sims should be walking right into it) and a snowflake-shaped mirror. (This picture, I’m now realizing, is horrible. The snow from outside snuck into the house or something. Sorry about that.)

Screenshot-10356.jpg

Also, mistletoe! I remember trying to find mistletoe ages ago and not being able to find it in buy mode, for some reason…but this time I sort by collection and find it in the Seasons one. Hooray! Of course, as soon as Buddy gets home from work, Roberta corners him and asks for a kiss. Buddy looks a little spooked.

Screenshot-10358.jpg

Roberta's “kiss me under the kissy plant” face manages to be both derpy and sultry.

Screenshot-10359.jpg

Snowflake Day rolls around, and it’s time for Roberta to throw her first holiday party! A space is cleared for the presents and everybody dresses to the nines. A big crowd of people shows up this time—it almost looks like a bigger party than usual. Even Sezzad is there!

Screenshot-10364.jpg

A very pregnant Emerald Castor (née Greenwood) parties it up. I don't know how the schools are going to handle all the babies that are being born...

Screenshot-10363.jpg

Roberta puts some effort into getting to know her uncle at the party. He’s not rude, exactly, but he doesn't really make an effort, either. He pretty much just thinks the conversation is boring.

Screenshot-10361.jpg

The gift giving takes forever because there are so many guests. Roberta and Joe Bob both receive chess sets, because we definitely need more of those.

Screenshot-10365.jpg

Buddy gets a nice fishing painting or something. And Odile receives coal! I’ve never seen that happen before! She must have given someone a bad rap in one of her books or something…or maybe it was Newton. It was probably Newton.

Screenshot-10368.jpg

Buddy has the next day off, so he uses it to start taking some classes around town. (One of this generation’s adults has to take 10 classes, and since Buddy has a looser schedule than Roberta, he’s our chosen “Dilettante”.) I never realized how quick these classes are. He gets through handiness, charisma, and writing before lunchtime, and then guitar, painting, athletic, and logic before dinner. Good grief, man! We're gonna be done with this requirement by the weekend!

Joe Bob has an awards ceremony after school. He already has a trophy for being president of the Debate Club, and he’s on the honor roll as well. He’s quite an accomplished kid. I’ll be sad to see him move out of the house in a few days, but I’m also very curious to see where Story Progression takes him.

Days pass. Odile gets the mail for the first time in, I guess, quite a while, because there’s a stack of love letters (including one from Buddy to Roberta…awww) and a wedding gift from Lincoln––from beyond the grave! Spooky. It's something silly––just a painting of a bunny (or maybe it's Odile in her bunny costume?)––but of course it still means the world to Roberta, and she hangs it in their bedroom accordingly.

Screenshot-10378.jpg

I’ve built a little basement beneath the house to begin displaying each heir’s achievements. If I’d thought of it sooner, I’d have had someone learn the photography skill to take portraits—but we’ll have to make do. There’s a bookshelf full of Odile’s published books (she’s written fifteen…just five more and she’ll have completed all her requirements for this challenge!), a reading corner decorated with the first bouquet of flowers Lincoln gave her, and a wall displaying her high school diploma and writing mastery certificate.

Screenshot-10374.jpg

On a side note, Buddy is looking SUPER buff. He hasn’t even been lifting weights that much—mostly running. I don’t know if I’ve ever had such a beefy sim before.

Screenshot-10376.jpg

Before anyone realizes it (myself included), it’s spring! Time flies when you’re in a really boring part of the challenge and you do everything at 3x speed.

Roberta gets to decorating for the new season, and this time, it’s all about plants! Plants in the living room. Plants in the kitchen. Plants in the bathroom. Plants in the bedroom. Plants hanging from the ceiling. Plants outside the door. Plants everywhere a plant can fit, even if it doesn’t look good.

Screenshot-10381.jpg

I accidentally use up all but $200 of the family funds on these plants…I forgot that I purchased a new car for the family this past week. Fortunately, it’s Sunday, and Odile gets more than $20,000 in royalties a few hours later. Phew!

Here's Roberta’s spring outfit.

Screenshot-10384.jpg

Joe Bob has been learning the guitar skill, and since he just took a drums class, Buddy rolls a wish to play the drums. They both head downtown and start jamming. They don’t get any tips (and I’ve just realized that that would’ve been against the rules anyway…), but they have a good time and draw a decent crowd, sort of.

Screenshot-10383.jpg

Joe Bob ages up to young adult just as he gets too cold to play anymore.

Screenshot-10385.jpg

Here’s our grown up boy. He rolls the Eco-Friendly trait, to be added to his Artistic, Genius, Lucky, and Light Sleeper traits.

Screenshot-10387.jpg

That night, it’s time for Joe Bob to head out on his own. He hugs his mother and his sister goodbye, then puts in a call to get his own place.

Screenshot-10389.jpg

Screenshot-10390.jpg

Screenshot-10391.jpg

And with that, Joe Bob Middlemiss walks out into a new life.

Screenshot-10392.jpg

I follow Joe Bob with the camera after he leaves, and it turns out he moves just three houses down! It’s nice to know he’ll be close by.

Offline Beks

  • Immortal
  • *****
  • Posts: 830
Re: The Middlemiss Random Legacy
« Reply #16 on: September 12, 2018, 11:17:22 AM »
Chapter 12 – Fallen Angels, Sprouting Herbs

Not even 12 hours go by after Joe Bob moves out before he’s got a girl. I knew it! He starts dating some chick named Allyson Pettit, whom I’ve never heard of or seen around town. Congrats, Joe Bob! I wish you'd choose an actual townie...but oh well.

Roberta has become best friends with her boss, Angel Johnson. He’s a very amiable fellow with a new wife and a baby daughter. Roberta asks him over after work on Tuesday, hoping to butter him up and ask for a promotion.

She is surprised by what Angel has in mind instead.

Screenshot-10397.jpg

Yes, Roberta's boss appears to be infatuated with her. She responds with polite enthusiasm (perhaps a bit too much enthusiasm...).

Screenshot-10398.jpg

"Oh, Mr. Johnson..."

"Please, call me Angel."

"Right...Angel. This is very kind of you, but––well, I was wondering what you think of my performance at work lately?"

Screenshot-10399.jpg

This puts her in a bit of an awkward position. When she asks Angel for a promotion, and he happily agrees, Roberta wonders if he’s only saying yes because he fancies her, and not because her performance has been consistently top-notch. She tries to forget about it and simply be grateful.

Angel stays the rest of the evening and continues to flirt. Roberta spurns his every attempt at wooing her. If this were real life, we’d be approaching the sexual harrassment zone…but this is the sims, and Angel Johnson simply can’t get over the fact that he has a major crush on his employee. I guess.

Buddy gets home from work soon after that. He may suspect something weird is going on. If he does, he doesn’t show it. He cozies up to Roberta on the couch and listens as she tells him (quietly, but eagerly—Angel is sitting just over there in the kitchen) that she just got a promotion.

Screenshot-10401.jpg

“You invited your boss over to ask for a promotion?” Buddy asks. “Why couldn’t you just do it at work tomorrow?”

“It’s easier to talk to him outside of the hospital,” Roberta says. “And this way I can start the day tomorrow as a paramedic. Anyway, Angel likes seeing me outside of work, I guess.”

“Does he,” says Buddy.

Screenshot-10402.jpg

He doesn’t seem to think much of it, though. Angel, who has been reading in the background, gets up to leave while Roberta and Buddy are liplocked. Roberta doesn’t get a chance to thank him again for promoting her.

Screenshot-10403.jpg

After Angel leaves, though…Roberta rolls a wish to kiss him for the first time.  :o (I think it's only because Angel turned their hangout session into a "date" by flirting with her, and because it supposedly "went well" for a date. But STILL. Bad, bad Roberta.)

It's not until the next morning that Buddy notices the bouquet of flowers on the kitchen table. He doesn't remember giving those to his wife.

"What the...?"

Screenshot-10405.jpg

The next day, Roberta gets another promotion—to Medical Intern. Soon she’ll be working 10-hour days, and after that, late nights. Buddy is at work in the evening, as usual, and Roberta grows anxious. She has taken to staring out of windows more often than usual. The encounter with Angel yesterday seems to have unnerved her. She worries that Buddy suspects something—but then remembers that there’s nothing for him to suspect. Or is there? Roberta remembers very well the sudden urge to kiss Angel that swept over her at the end of their evening together. The thought haunts her. How could she ever imagine being with anyone but Buddy?

Screenshot-10410.jpg

Roberta is called into the hospital for a medical emergency that night. When she gets home, she feels exhausted, hungry, and a little ill. At first, she assumes it’s just the anxiety and the stress from work, but then…

Screenshot-10414.jpg

She’s pregnant! This explains the nausea she’s been feeling for the past couple of days. She thought it was all anxiety, but nope!

The next day is Love Day. First thing in the morning, Roberta tells Buddy the great news. He’s thrilled, of course. Both he and Roberta rolled wishes to have their first child recently, so the timing is perfect.

Screenshot-10415.jpg

Screenshot-10416.jpg

The family decides to get out of the house and celebrate at the Spring Festival. It’s rainy and chilly, but Roberta is determined to celebrate.

Screenshot-10422.jpg

She and Buddy just want to dance. Aside from taking a greeting card photo together, they just dance the entire time. (Naturally, the next day they’re crowned Spring Dance King and Queen.)

Screenshot-10421.jpg

Screenshot-10423.jpg

Screenshot-10424.jpg

The whole Angel thing seems to be in the past. Phew! (Though Odile continues to expand upon the drama-that-could-have-happened in her latest romance novel, Fallen Angel.)

In other news, Odile has at last supermaxed writing. With her twentieth novel, Odile completes all her requirements for Generation One and is invited to City Hall to accept a Writer’s Honor Trophy. *sniff* I’m so proud of my little founder!

Screenshot-10408.jpg

Roberta goes into labor late Friday night. Buddy and Odile flip out, of course; Roberta has one painful contraction and then heads straight out the door to the hospital.

Screenshot-10429.jpg

Screenshot-10430.jpg

It’s not a quick labor this time. It’s after midnight by the time Roberta emerges from the hospital holding her son (and our first male heir of the challenge), Basil.

Screenshot-10432.jpg

Basil is a Genius who Loves the Outdoors. I will be choosing the traits this time around—I did the rolls for his generation, and certain traits will be indispensable.

Back at home, baby Basil gets to know his mommy, daddy, and granny.

Screenshot-10433.jpg

Screenshot-10434.jpg

Screenshot-10436.jpg

This little boy is going to be very well loved indeed.

Next time, we'll see Basil become a toddler and Roberta throw a drama-filled summer bash. Stay tuned!



Registered members do not see ads on this Forum. Register here.

Offline Beks

  • Immortal
  • *****
  • Posts: 830
Re: The Middlemiss Random Legacy
« Reply #17 on: September 12, 2018, 02:56:50 PM »
Chapter 13 – At Your Leisure

Roberta is off work for a very long time, because pregnancy, and because weekends don’t count toward maternity leave apparently (I am all for maternity leave in real life, please and thank you, but not so much in the sims). She spends most of her time working at the lab station and searching the galaxy, trying to get her logic skill up the rest of the way. Between experiments, of course, she takes care of baby Basil (with plenty of help from the very capable butler, Weston).

Screenshot-6.jpg

Basil ages up to toddler, and wow! I have never seen a child inherit any physical characteristics from an Imaginary Friend parent. I have hoped for it in many a game, but have never seen it happen until now. Basil inherits his daddy’s magenta-tinged hair and bright turquoise eyes. It’s absolutely unreal.

Screenshot-9.jpg

The resemblance is uncanny.

Screenshot-13.jpg

Buddy loves his son regardless of appearance...but he also is a rather big fan of his son's appearance.

Screenshot-12.jpg

The next day is Roberta’s first day back to work. She’s relieved, I’m relieved, everybody’s relieved. She’s only gone for a few hours before tragedy occurs.

Screenshot-16.jpg

Odile is 91 or 92 at this point, so it's not exactly a surprise. I was hoping she'd make it through her masterpiece, though...

Grim pops out of the ground outside the house and does his creepy summoning through the window, which is…even creepier.

Screenshot-19.jpg

Then he takes his sweet time drifting around the side of the house to enter through the front door.

Screenshot-20.jpg

No no, take your time, Grim! We'll just stand here and suppress our weeping until you arrive! AT YOUR LEISURE!

Screenshot-21.jpg

So Odile passes on to the next life (that is, to her corner of the Middlemiss basement) while writing her 2,000 page masterpiece, Don’t Miss The Middlemisses. She was less than 10% of the way through it. :( As an aside, Grim takes so long to get to her that she doesn't even do the whole beg-for-life / shake-hand-peaceably interaction. She just turns into a wisp of light and disappears.

And so, we have our second death of the legacy, and the first one that’s not a freak accident. We love you, Odile! RIP.

Summer arrives, and Roberta updates her outfit once again. 

Screenshot-4.jpg

Poor Basil has to grow up without remembering his grandmother. :( And I’m a little anxious about getting through his toddler skills now that there’s nobody home 24/7 except the butler (who will take excellent care of him, but won’t teach him anything). To comfort ourselves, let us revel in toddler spam.

Screenshot-14.jpg

Screenshot-26.jpg

Screenshot-28.jpg

Screenshot-29.jpg

He’s got that Lincoln jawline…

Screenshot-27.jpg

Leisure Day soon arrives, and Roberta throws a party. She also invests in some summery “decor” to entertain the guests in the front yard. Hopefully it doesn’t rain.

Screenshot-32.jpg

Ah, look who’s here! Yes, hello, Angel...hi.

Screenshot-33.jpg

I forgot to mention something. Angel changed jobs recently. He was Roberta’s boss, as you’ll remember; now he works as a Latrine Cleaner (lovely) in the military career. He and Roberta haven’t seen each other for quite a while, but they pick up right where they left off.

“I’ve missed seeing your beautiful face around the hospital every day, Roberta.”

“Aww, I’ve missed you too, Angel! You were––um––you were such a good boss!”

Screenshot-34.jpg

(You can’t see it very well in the picture above, but Buddy notices. He definitely notices.)

Joe Bob is the first to really show any indignation. He gets right up behind Angel and starts giving Roberta the evil eye. You go, Joe Bob! (I forget who is fighting in the background of this picture…possibly the butler.)

Screenshot-35.jpg

Eventually, Buddy comes over. He listens as they exchange flirtatious pleasantries. And he erupts.

“Roberta, what is this? Your mother just died yesterday, and now you’re flirting with your boss?! How can you have such disrespect for our family? For ME?”

Screenshot-39.jpg

“I didn’t––I wasn’t––I was just––“

Screenshot-42.jpg

“I thought something was off the last time this jerk was in our house. I saw the flowers he gave you. I should have said something then.”

“Buddy, it’s nothing! He was just being nice!”

“Oh, and I suppose you were just being nice five seconds ago when you were complimenting his appearance?”

Screenshot-46.jpg

“He and I are good friends! Nothing more! I would never—“

Screenshot-45.jpg

Buddy doesn’t want to hear it. He’s seen and heard enough.

Screenshot-47.jpg

“I have to go,” he says.

He picks up his phone and puts in a call.

Screenshot-48.jpg

Then he runs out without saying another word.

Screenshot-49.jpg



Offline Beks

  • Immortal
  • *****
  • Posts: 830
Re: The Middlemiss Random Legacy
« Reply #18 on: September 14, 2018, 01:51:34 PM »
Chapter 14 – IPTA

The party is over. Buddy is gone—moved out. And Roberta is alone.

Screenshot-50.jpg

Roberta misses Buddy from the minute he leaves. She immediately rolls wishes to talk to him, to hang out with him. (She rolls similar wishes for Angel, but we don’t talk about that.) She doesn’t even know where Buddy moved to. He left most of his possessions, which makes her hope he’ll return soon, but she’s afraid to hope too much. He didn’t even say goodbye to his son.

Roberta is heartbroken. She lost her mother yesterday, and now her husband has left her too––over a misunderstanding, a false accusation.

Screenshot-51.jpg

She hardly has any time to be sad, though. Basil needs her. He is over in the kitchen, playing quietly on the floor with the toy bunny that Roberta loved so much as a child. She goes over and scoops him up. She holds him close. He’s all she has now—at least until Buddy cools off and comes home.

Screenshot-54.jpg

It’s late, but being wide awake, Roberta decides to stay up later and start teaching Basil how to walk. He hasn’t learned anything except potty-ing yet, and now, his toddler skills all down to her. She hardly thinks about the fact that she has work in the morning.

Screenshot-57.jpg

Roberta finally goes to bed around 2:30 am. At 4, she is forced to wake up for an emergency at the hospital that requires her presence. Poor girl is going to be so tired later…

Screenshot-59.jpg

She comes home, sleeps for an hour, and then has to go right back to work. It’s just like real life! Amazing! To top off the negative moodlets that are already stacking up (mourning, hunger, sleepiness, loss of friends…), she gets falsely accused while she’s at work and loses even MORE friends. I would very much like this game to let ME torture my sims and stop torturing them for me. Please and thank you.

Roberta comes home and collapses into bed. Basil, like all Middlemiss toddlers, it seems, is on a nocturnal schedule. He plays with his bunny in the kitchen all night, with only his granny for company. Oh, yeah, Odile makes her first appearance as a ghost!

Screenshot-61.jpg

She plays computer games for a while, then breaks the computer and haunts the toddler potty instead. Soon after, she disappears. Great to see you, Odile! *rolls eyes*

Roberta's falls into a torturous routine: work, feed the baby, sleep for two hours, work again, sleep for an hour, try to teach Basil to talk, work again, sleep for three hours...it's pretty awful. She needs help. She is, at least for now, a single mom with a toddler to care for while still holding down a full time job (and one with ten-hour shifts and late nights at that). Weston, the butler, continues to be an exemplary caregiver when Roberta’s not home, but he isn’t able to do as much for Basil as an actual member of the household could do.

Roberta thinks through all the people she knows around Twinbrook. She has friends, to be sure, but they are all married and have families of their own. Several are also raising toddlers. Nobody would ever have time to help Roberta, and definitely not to move in with her.

There is someone, though. Someone Roberta met a while ago, back when she was just starting in her medical career. A visitor.

She calls him.

Screenshot-62.jpg

He arrives just minutes later, probably scaring the mailman half to death.

Screenshot-63.jpg

Screenshot-66.jpg

Roberta invites him inside. They catch up a bit. Before long, the two are good friends, and she asks him to move in. He agrees.

Screenshot-71.jpg

“Thank you so much, Sezzad,” she says. “You don't know how desperate I am.”

“I do know,” he says. “It is the middle of the day and you are in underwear. Your child is screaming and you seem not to notice. And you have invited an alien into your home. These are not normal human behaviors. Something is not right.”

Screenshot-72.jpg

Roberta is about to go take care of Basil, but Sezzad beats her to it. In that moment, she knows she made the right decision.

Sezzad Vajjevoo’s traits, by the way, are Daredevil, Savvy Sculptor, Childish, Green Thumb, and Ambitious. Unfortunately, he won’t be able to use his sculpting or gardening tendencies very much, or at all—at least not to make money. There is a far more challenging profession in store for our new alien friend.

Full disclosure: I cheated a little bit with Sezzad. I actually tried to befriend a different alien a while back, but she was already an elder (like most aliens I encounter) and she died about two hours after arriving. I was worried the same thing would happen with Sezzad. (His “days to transition” stat has changed a couple of times in Master Controller, so I’m hesitant to trust it.) So my solution was to have Sezzad drink a Young Again potion as soon as he joined the household. The rules do prohibit life-extending methods for humans, but they are a little bit vague when it comes to occults––they allow using mods to extend the lives of occults, so I hope using a potion isn't too far outside that rule. I just really wanted Sezzad to join the household and not kick the bucket in the first five minutes. Hey, I’m not going for points or anything.

Sezzad takes to his new role of Substitute Parent Of Basil Middlemiss very easily. He does seem to have a natural affinity with kids. He forces Weston the butler, on several occasions, to wait his turn before attending to Basil’s many needs. He also likes to play with Basil’s toys.

Screenshot-75.jpg

Screenshot-77.jpg

So it’s only natural, when he consults the newspaper, that he express interest in the Day Care career.

Screenshot-70.jpg

Roberta thinks he’s absolutely crazy, but she’s not about to say no to an alien who could probably fry her to a crisp in a second if he wanted to.

So Sezzad takes on a new calling. He also takes on full responsibility for Basil’s toddler skills, as practice, and because Roberta is too exhausted and has to work in ten hours anyway.

Screenshot-76.jpg

It's time for a Buddy update. You guys, I am spooked.

A few nights after the disastrous Leisure Day party, I finally get around to spying on Buddy. I’ve been trying to figure out through Master Controller where he lives, and he doesn’t appear to have a house of his own in town. My guess was that he moved in with another family that had space. Anyway, I lurk outside the stadium utnil he finishes work that night, and then I follow him home.

He stops his car next to the railroad tracks. He gets out and runs into the weeds.

Screenshot-85.jpg

He runs around behind the criminal warehouse and the science building, into this building that I’ve never noticed before. It’s called the Twinbrook Industrial Train Center.

Screenshot-86.jpg

Is this where homeless sims live in Twinbrook?? I am fascinated. I can see inside the building, sort of, and there are a few pieces of furniture, but it doesn’t look like enough to live there. There are a couple of desks, two bookshelves, and a small sofa. (And two dumpsters, which I wish I’d known about while Lincoln was alive.) That’s it. The rest is empty space.

Weeeird. Anyway, back to our usual programming.

But wait! First, another family member update: our very first gnome, Debbie, passed away recently. I didn't even know that gnomes are able to pass away. I swear, I learn something new every time I play this game. Here she is memorialized forever in our front garden.

Screenshot-84.jpg

RIP, Debbie!

The next morning, Roberta is off to work again and Sezzad has his first day of work as a Day Care…person. I purchase some extra toys and strew them around the house. I also provide a couple of extra potties.

The parents show up promptly at 9 with two little baldies in tow. Looks like Mrs. Petersen is expecting yet another little one.

Screenshot-89.jpg

I’ve never tried the Day Care career, so this is all pretty new for me. Savannah and Esperanza are some needy little darlings! Like, wow. Sezzad also has Basil to care for…fortunately Basil is pretty self-sufficient, for a toddler. It’s just that he still needs some talking lessons, and it’s hard to teach a little boy to talk when the other toddlers in the room are peeing and crying every five seconds.

Screenshot-92.jpg

Screenshot-93.jpg

Weston, are you sure you’re allowed to help with this…? Actually, I don’t care. THANK YOU, KIND SIR.

Screenshot-91.jpg

The day goes fairly well. Unfortunately, there isn’t time to finish teaching Basil how to talk. When he ages up on his own that night, I’m not able to pick his trait. Drat.

Screenshot-96.jpg

He gets the Disciplined trait, which is utterly useless for his particular set of rolls. I mean, I guess he could practice Martial Arts as a hobby…but there’s really no reason to. We’ll have to make some changes later on.

Here’s Basil as a child. I didn’t even realize this initially, but not only did he inherit Buddy’s physical features, he inherited Buddy’s occult status. Basil is himself an Imaginary Friend! That’s bonkers. I didn’t even know that was possible. Now that I think about it, it makes sense. He can turn himself into a toy and everything. Magical!

Screenshot-97.jpg

That’s all we have time for this time around. Next time, we’ll see more from the Interplanetary Toddler Academy (IPTA), watch Basil grow up, and find out more about Buddy’s life as a Middlemiss expat.

Offline Beks

  • Immortal
  • *****
  • Posts: 830
Re: The Middlemiss Random Legacy
« Reply #19 on: September 16, 2018, 02:10:56 PM »
Chapter 15 – Toy Meets Toy

Basil is a unique kid. Even he knows this, at such a young age.

He’s the only kid in town who lives with an alien. He likes to brag to his friends that an alien taught him how to walk and talk. And he loves to ride in Sezzad’s spaceship. That’s probably the coolest part of living with an alien.

He also has a secret ability—he can turn himself into a doll, a toy version of himself. The first time he did it, it terrified him, and he hasn’t really done it since. He wonders how such a crazy thing is possible. Maybe one day, when he’s a scientist, he’ll figure it out.

Basil’s favorite things to do are practice chess and use his mom’s telescope. Maybe it’s because of Sezzad, or maybe it’s just how he was born—Basil loves studying the stars. He has all kinds of questions about the universe.

Screenshot-162.jpg

Sezzad has told him that sometimes space rocks fall to earth, even here in Twinbrook. Basil has a dream of finding one sometime. When he told his mother this, she got very nervous. She gets nervous a lot. Her least favorite topics of conversation seem to be space rocks, and Basil’s dad.

Basil doesn’t know very much about his dad. He asks his mother whenever he can, but she always looks sad when he brings it up. He asks where his dad is. Roberta says, “He’s out of town for a while.” Basil asks when he’s coming back, and Roberta says, “I don’t know, Basil.”

Luckily, Basil doesn’t have to wait forever.

It’s a crisp fall day. Weston the butler is out raking the leaves, as every donut* butler loves to do.

Screenshot-99.jpg

Basil is fixing himself breakfast. And the doorbell rings.

Screenshot-98.jpg

In walks a man Basil has never seen before. He’s tall and muscular—and he has magenta-tinged hair, just like Basil! The man walks closer, and Basil sees that he has ice-blue eyes. There is no question. This is Buddy, Basil’s dad.

Screenshot-103.jpg

The man walks toward Roberta. He’s obviously here with the purpose of speaking to her. Basil sits down with his waffles and watches his father suspiciously. He doesn’t know what to think. Why is he suddenly showing up now? Why does he think he’s allowed to just stroll in unannounced? Why doesn’t he seem to care that Roberta is in her underwear?

Screenshot-104.jpg

Basil eats his breakfast and listens to his parents—yes, his parents—talk. They talk quietly and politely, like they’re trying to be as nice to each other as possible. He hears his mother say, “It’s about time.” He hears his father say, “I know. I wanted him to be old enough to understand what’s happening.”

Screenshot-106.jpg

Roberta tells Buddy about work. She’s an Infectious Disease Researcher now, a huge accomplishment that she’s worked incredibly hard for. She tells him about Sezzad. Buddy is surprisingly gracious about that, and nods at the alien across the room.

Screenshot-108.jpg

Then it’s time. Roberta beckons her son. Basil gets up from his half-eaten waffles and comes over to stand in front of his father for the first time.

“Hi, Basil,” says Buddy.

“Hi, Dad.”

Screenshot-111.jpg

They smile at each other. Basil can’t believe it—his father really does look just like him. He wonders if he’s like him in his secret way—he wonders if he can turn himself into a toy, too. Probably not…that would be crazy.

They talk a little bit. Buddy asks Basil how his mother has been. Basil says that she’s usually very stressed out and very sad. Buddy tells his son about his job as a professional athlete. Then Basil asks Buddy if he wants to play tag. Buddy agrees, and out they run into the crisp air and falling leaves.

Screenshot-115.jpg

They play tag for a long time. Later that afternoon, Roberta comes outside and asks them (calling them “you boys”) if they want to go to the Fall Festival. Both boys get excited and say yes. They all pile into Roberta’s car, and off they go.

Basil and Buddy brave the haunted house together. Basil is confident his daddy is strong enough to beat off any mummies or skeletons they come across.

Screenshot-118.jpg

Then, the whole family competes in a pie-eating contest.

Screenshot-121.jpg

Buddy wins, of course. He's gracious enough to look surprised.

Screenshot-122.jpg

Soon after that, Buddy has to go home—he’s staying with Uncle Joe Bob and Aunt Allyson on the other side of town. He hugs Basil goodbye and says he’ll be back to visit soon.

One weekend evening, Roberta goes over to Joe Bob and Allyson’s house. Ever since Buddy stopped by to meet his son, she’s been feeling more okay about things. Buddy was very civil to her, even a little affectionate. She misses him desperately. Maybe things can go back to the way they were?

Screenshot-132.jpg

Buddy is there, and happy to see his wife. They spend a long while talking. It's easier now that Basil is not in earshot.

Screenshot-133.jpg

Buddy is very busy with his games, but enjoying staying with Joe Bob. He asks about Basil. Roberta tells him he’s doing well, and seems happier now that he's met his dad. But he wants to get to know his dad more.

Then Roberta brings up the forbidden topic––Angel. She explains that what happened was entirely one-sided, and while she may have had a little bit of a workplace crush on her boss, she never dreamed of acting on it.

Screenshot-138.jpg

"I know," says Buddy. "I don't know what came over me. Jealousy, I guess. I just felt this overwhelming need to leave. Almost like it was out of my control." He takes Roberta's hand. "I've missed you."

"I've missed you, too," she says.

Screenshot-142.jpg

“I won't be ready to come back for a while,” Buddy says.

“I understand,” says Roberta.

Screenshot-140.jpg

They end the night by watching the stars together. Things aren't exactly back to the way they were, but they're getting there.

Screenshot-151.jpg

(Side note: A couple days later, Roberta rolls a wish to kiss Sezzad for the first time. Roberta, I’m not even going to ask. Get a freaking grip, woman!)

Life goes on in the Middlemiss household. Sezzad upgrades objects and cares for a variety of Twinbrook toddlers; Roberta reads her medical journals; and Basil practices cooking on the toy oven and plays blocks to start working on handiness.

Screenshot-129.jpg

Screenshot-156.jpg

Weston the butler has retired, sadly, and been replaced by a very nice lady named Deanna (I think). She does a lovely job, but everyone misses Weston (myself included). Here she's holding Hillary Peterson, who was a baby in her mommy's tummy last we saw her.

Screenshot-157.jpg

Roberta ages up to Adult, and starts a Mid-Life Crisis. One of her wishes is to remodel the house a bit. I change some wallpapers and transform the exterior into red brick. I also update the roof. I’m quite proud of this house—it looks more like a real house on the outside than any other house I’ve built before. Additionally, I put some walls around the stairway to the basement and put in a locked door to prevent people from wandering down there in search of a book. Odile’s bookshelf needs to remain Odile’s bookshelf, with only her books on it. (Of course, bookshelves in TS3 seem not to retain the same stock of books no matter what I do…but at least this will stay as Odile’s bookshelf in spirit.) I only took pictures of the exterior, apparently...but I'd like to do a more thorough house tour at some point. Maybe next generation.

Screenshot-154.jpg

Winter arrives, and with it, lots of snow. Roberta changes her outfit for the new season:

Screenshot-161.jpg

Basil hardly gets to go to school at all as a child. The last couple days are declared snow days. Roberta tutors him to keep his grades up. And in the mean time, he gets to stay home and experience the Interplanetary Toddler Academy firsthand!

He even helps keep the toddlers entertained.

Screenshot-159.jpg

(Fun fact: This little toddler is Conor Kadukin, the son of my simself and a recently-moved-in townie. I put my simself into the game a couple weeks ago, just to see what Story Progression would do with her. She's the same sim I used for my avatar. Maybe you can spot her in some past and future screenshots...)

At the end of the second snow day, Basil ages up and becomes a teenager.

Screenshot-165.jpg

He gains the Star Quality trait, to be added to his Genius, Loves the Outdoors, and Disciplined traits. We'll have to get rid of that Disciplined trait at some point, but until then, he's right on track to start his requirements in a couple of weeks.

Until next time!


*I just reread this two days after posting it and saw that I wrote "donut" instead of "butler". I think I was talking to my boyfriend about donuts while writing...? I don't know. I'm leaving the evidence there because it made me laugh.

Offline Beks

  • Immortal
  • *****
  • Posts: 830
Re: The Middlemiss Random Legacy
« Reply #20 on: September 18, 2018, 06:16:50 PM »
Chapter 16 – Star Search

(Author's note: I had to squeeze a lot of story into this post, and because of the picture limit, not every part of the story includes screenshots––I had to spread them out a bit. Sorry for that in advance!)

Basil has his sights set on being a celebrity. He wants to be the most famous and beloved Sim in all of Twinbrook. He’s already getting popular among the other high schoolers (and, thanks to Story Progression, there are many of those). And he’s begun to check out the teens around him, keeping his eyes peeled for potential partners. He has an idea of which families in town are wealthy and well-known; he intends to become one of them by the time he grows up. (Not that the Middlemisses aren’t already wealthy and well-known…)

It’s time for the second annual Middlemiss Gift-Giving Party! (I hope you’re not tired of these parties yet…) Much of the guest list for this party consists of teenagers. Roberta is aware of Basil’s requirements and is keeping an eye open, too.

Basil’s formal wear gives him a bit of a “rebel” air. He looks awesome and he knows it.

Screenshot-5.jpg

He starts chatting up the ladies right away. This is Sherita Castor, daughter of Thomas and Emerald Castor (née Greenwood).

Screenshot-7.jpg

This is another contender, Leanna Greenwood. Ever since Spooky Day, she’s been stuck in trick-or-treat mode and goes around in her hockey mask. Her mother is original townie Jade Greenwood, who is still alive and kicking after having like 97 babies. (Oh hey, this makes Leanna and Sherita cousins!) Leanna’s father is Notzo Curious, but he never moved in with Jade so all her children were born with the last name Greenwood.

Screenshot-9.jpg

(There seems to be a Spooky Day glitch in my game—every holiday, there are some teens that still treat it like Spooky Day and come to the house to trick-or-treat. It’s kind of hilarious, I guess.)

The next day is a snow day (again), so I send Basil over to the Castor house to get to know Sherita. He seemed to like her well enough at the party (he didn’t get a chance to talk to Leanna).

They talk and become good friends. The moment they become friends, Basil rolls a wish to kiss her for the first time. All right, Basil—if you know what you want, then I’m gonna give it to you (at least this time around). He convinces her to break up with her boyfriend, Donnie Kadukin, but before he can ask her to prom (which is tomorrow), she gets overwhelmed with hunger and must go make a pot of mac and cheese.

Basil waits patiently for Sherita to finish cooking. He seems to like what he sees. (Sidenote: Sherita looks so much like her grandmother, original townie Beverly Castor.)

Screenshot-17.jpg

At last, Sherita cures her hunger pangs and allows Basil to talk to her again. He quickly asks her to prom, to which she excitedly agrees, and then rushes home before he’s caught after curfew.

Screenshot-21.jpg

The next evening is prom. Sherita arrives nice and early, and she and Basil head out to the limo together.

Screenshot-23.jpg

Within ten minutes of prom starting, Sherita asks Basil to go steady! Awww. She also learns that Basil has never been kissed, asks the band to put them in the spotlight, and then kisses him in front of everyone! I think I like this girl. She’s got some spunk, and she definitely knows what she wants. Go Sherita!

Basil spends the following day taking a charisma class—the charisma skill will be essential if he wants to get to the top of the celebrity pecking order—and socializing with people in town. He makes good progress in his level 2 celebrity status just by chatting up a couple of one-star celebrities. I’ve only had one or two 5-star celebrities in past games (and they might have all been immortals in my immortal dynasty, meaning they had all the time in the world to reach level 5)…but we’ll see what we can do. I’m trying to start Basil as early as possible and introduce him to everyone I can find.

Monday arrives, and with it, plenty of toddlers to keep Sezzad occupied. He’s really getting good at the day care thing (as am I)—so good that I don’t even notice that Deanna the butler has been raking leaves all day instead of helping with the kids. Sezzad does just fine on his own.

That night, Roberta reaches level 10 of the medical career, achieving her lifetime wish. Congrats, Roberta! All those extra emergency shifts allowed her to make progress more quickly than other sims I’ve played in the past, I think. Her level 10 bonus also brings the family funds to just over 100k, which will be an excellent buffer for future generations that may roll low-earning careers.

Screenshot-32.jpg

Oh, and she also changes her outfit, once again, for the new season. Here's her latest spring outfit:

Screenshot-26.jpg

Basil’s teen years move along. (They’re not very exciting, honestly.) He goes to school, study club, and debate club. He works on his logic skill and also practices cooking so he can take over that aspect of family life when Roberta is gone. Roberta, now at the top of her career, has more time off than before and spends a lot of time reading books—her favorite pastime. (She’s read almost 40 books, possibly more than Odile read in her lifetime.)

Screenshot-50.jpg

I build a small addition onto the house after Sezzad gets promoted and his client count goes up to four toddlers instead of three. The former living room area of the great room is now the dedicated toddler play area, with extra toys and lots of space for crawling and crying and screaming. The living room area is now a full-on living room. I think it looks rather nice!

Screenshot-33.jpg

I’ve been trying to think of other things to do with Sezzad. He only works as a day care person three days a week because Thursday is always a holiday (grrr) and he gets Friday through Sunday off as well. Then I have an epiphany—we need to find Sezzad a lady!

I use MC to find all the single ladies in Twinbrook who aren’t too old to have babies (just in case, you know). There is exactly one. And it’s Juliana Jones-Brown, daughter of Goodwin Goode. She and her father are the first and last vampires Twinbrook has seen in this game. (I turned vampires off as soon as I saw that Goodwin became one early in the game.) I never would have considered Juliana as a partner for anyone…but then, how often do you see aliens and vampires getting together? Not very often! I must heed the call of potential vampalien babies!

I track down Juliana’s house and send Sezzad over to say hello.

Screenshot-35.jpg

She lives in a crummy little house with her three grown sons. She was dating another guy for many years (and had three kids with him), but he recently passed away. Of course, by the time I get to her house, she’s dating someone else. Thanks, Story Progression. But that doesn’t stop Sezzad. He pushes through and convinces her to break up with what’s-his-face, using plenty of allusions to his knowledge of stars as padding for his arguments.

Screenshot-37.jpg

Then they flirt like crazy, have their first kiss, and quickly progress to the bedroom (where one of Juliana’s sons is apparently stuck, and in a halloween costume…even though it’s not Spooky Day). No rest for the occult!

Screenshot-42.jpg

Screenshot-43.jpg

Meanwhile, it’s Love Day. Roberta goes to the Spring Festival because she has to for her requirements. (I honestly am not going to mind when this whole celebrate-every-holiday thing is over.) She starts dancing right away and goes on to win Spring Dance Queen for, if I remember correctly, the second year in a row. Incidentally, her old sort-of flame and ex-boss Angel is there with his wife. They manage to get along fine and dance the night away.

Screenshot-39.jpg

Basil calls his lovely Sherita and asks her to meet him at the festival. This is the first time I’ve actually seen them kiss. Their first kiss was behind closed doors, at prom. They’re pretty sweet together, I must say.

Screenshot-40.jpg

They also try out the Love Tester. It tells them they’ve found true love and to hang on to each other!

Screenshot-46.jpg

And that night, as Love Day winds to a close, Roberta finds herself missing Buddy. Even though they’ve made up and are on pleasant terms again, they haven’t been lovers in a very long time. She misses him like crazy. So she calls him and invites him over.

He’s missed her, too.

Screenshot-51.jpg

This is when I notice something weird—after Buddy moved out, he and Roberta apparently lost their “married” status. I should have noticed this in the relationship panel, where it just said “Old Friend”…but I didn’t think much of it, for some reason. It’s clear now that they’re not married anymore because Roberta has the option to ask her husband to go steady.

Well, why not? They seal the deal with their first kiss in many a year.

Screenshot-52.jpg

Weirdly, though, Buddy rejects Roberta’s invitation to woohoo. Perhaps he’s a bit squeamish after all this time. Oh well. Maybe he’ll come around in the future.

Screenshot-54.jpg

I’m getting very impatient with this generation. I admit it. Basil is just four days from aging up and taking over as heir, and I CANNOT WAIT. Of course, I adore Roberta—she’s my favorite heir so far (out of two and, like, two-thirds)—but her requirements were really quite easy, aside from the whole soulmate-has-to-move-out thing. These last few weeks have been relatively boring.

What am I going to do with these people for four days???

Well, as I’ve hinted already, one of Basil’s requirements as heir will be to become a 5-star celebrity. (I’ll reveal the rest of his rolls when he ages up.) That takes a lot of work and a lot of celebrity contacts. There aren’t any high-level celebrities in Twinbrook right now, aside from, well, the Middlemisses. So it’s going to take even more effort from Basil to get to that five-star mark.

It’s been a long time since Lincoln has made an appearance—I don’t think I’ve seen his ghost since Basil was a toddler. He sneaks into the house one night—I don’t even hear the music—and when I mouse over him, I’m reminded that he’s a four-star celebrity! He has the highest celebrity level of any Middlemiss thus far. I guess getting destroyed by a meteor really puts you on the map.

I haul Basil out of bed and he meets his grandfather in the hallway. Unfortunately, since he’s a teen, the most he can do is ask for an autograph. Which he does, happily.

Screenshot-58.jpg

Screenshot-59.jpg

I really hope Lincoln returns after Basil ages up. If they can become best friends, that will give Basil a significant boost in his celebrity level.

Saturday night, Buddy throws a party at Joe Bob’s house, and Roberta attends. As soon as she gets there, she heads into the bathroom to check the sink, and who should find her there but Angel! Yes, the guy who caused Roberta and Buddy to separate. He’s an elder now, and still flirts with Roberta whenever he sees her in public (except at the Spring Festival, when he was satisfied to watch her dance, I guess). He strolls in to Roberta’s private neurotic moment and compliments her, as always.

Screenshot-65.jpg

Roberta is on the verge of yelling at him—she’s so fed up with his advances—when Jade Greenwood goes and kicks the bucket on the front porch. Jade has been a family friend for nearly three generations now, and has procreated abundantly and filled the town with lots of little Greenwoods. Thank you for all you have done, Jade. RIP. (I took a screenshot of her death, but I'm almost out of space, so I have to leave it out. Apologies!)

Let’s get back to the real drama. Roberta has reached her breaking point with Angel. She yells at him. She slaps him. She even fights him, and, uh, loses…twice…but let’s not dwell on that. The point is that she fights him. Because it's about time we put a stop to his creepiness.

Screenshot-69.jpg

You go, girl! Put him in his place!

Screenshot-73.jpg

Roberta feels humiliated about losing two fights, but she also feels like things are back to normal. Hopefully this will stop Angel from flirting with her ever again. She’s ready to make things right with Buddy once and for all.

Next time, Basil takes the helm and Generation Three begins!

Offline Beks

  • Immortal
  • *****
  • Posts: 830
Re: The Middlemiss Random Legacy
« Reply #21 on: September 19, 2018, 08:00:58 PM »
Chapter 17 – Imaginary, Immutable, Intergalactic Love

We begin this jam-packed chapter with some exciting news––Juliana is pregnant! I’m really, really hoping for a vampalien. That’s probably not a thing. And if it is, there’s probably like a .03% chance of it happening. But I’m still hoping. At the very least I want a baby that’s one occult or the other. I am squealing with excitement.

Summer begins (already?), and Roberta chooses her last seasonal outfit as an adult. Might as well take advantage of that youthful bod while you’ve got it, eh?

Screenshot-1.jpg

Juliana gives birth to a baby boy named Gerry, and…he’s an alien! Huzzah!

Screenshot-4.jpg

The next day, some weird glitch happens with day care and no toddlers show up. *shrug* Fine with me! Instead, Sezzad invites his lady over and they get busy a second time. Afterwards, Sezzad is so overwhelmed with lovey-dovey feelings that he proposes to Juliana!

Screenshot-6.jpg

While having Sezzad upgrade all the things in order to fulfill his constant wishes to upgrade all the things, I learned very recently that you can upgrade alien spaceships to travel in space! And to give them laser cannons…I’m a little afraid to try that one. But then, I don’t play with aliens very often, so…

Screenshot-20.jpg

I rather stupidly thought that those laser cannons would cause more destruction than they did. It’s basically a pretty light show that makes spectators run around screaming with their arms in the air (not pictured). Also, there’s cool music. That’s about it, really. Anyway, good to know, and I certainly had fun watching it happen.

The next day—at long last—is Basil’s young adult birthday. He still has to go to school, because it’s a Tuesday, and then he also has debate club afterwards. But the second he gets home, he makes the call to throw a party.

It’s a rockin’ party! Everybody who’s anybody shows up to this rising star’s coming-of-age bash. A huge crowd gathers to watch Basil blow out his candles.

Screenshot-24.jpg

Maybe I just set up the party room well this time around, but I’ve never seen such a neat and orderly ring of guests surrounding a birthday party. Basil is pleased to learn he has so many devoted fans.

Screenshot-25.jpg

Here is our Generation Three heir! He gains the Computer Whiz trait upon aging up. His final traits are Genius, Loves the Outdoors, Disciplined, Star Quality, and Computer Whiz. (Actually, Discplined is not final––I plan to change it as soon as Basil gets enough LTH points for the Mid-Life Crisis reward. Probably to something like Friendly, to help with the celebrity thing.)

Screenshot-29.jpg

Here are the rolls for this generation:

Family Structure – Single Parent
Number of Children – 2
Income – Freelance Scientist
Generational Goal – Five-Star Celebrity
Misc. Fun – Tattoo Addict

Most of these rolls are self-explanatory, save two. As a Freelance Scientist, Basil can make money by discovering stars, solving problems on the computer, collecting insects and space rocks, and hacking. If I had whichever expansion pack comes with the Science skill, Basil could do that as well, but I don’t, so we’re limited to these options. It should be pretty easy to keep the funds flowing in. As for Tattoo Addict, that means that Basil has to acquire a new tattoo every sim week. I think that fits well with the celebrity requirement. It’ll be like a weekly shot of botox!

So, there you have it. Obviously the unfortunate piece of this is that Basil can’t have a spouse living in the household while he’s raising his two children. The rules do state that his partner can move in temporarily before the first child is born and while she is pregnant, but she must move out again as soon as the baby is born. Sad stuff. If anyone can roll with it, though, it’s Basil's longtime girlfriend and the future mother of Generation Four, Sherita Castor.

Basil's birthday also happens to be Roberta's birthday. She doesn't age up until 2 am though, well after the party ends. I assumed I had the day wrong until the camera panned over and she aged up in her bedroom.

Screenshot-36.jpg

Fear not, Roberta! You make a lovely elder.

Screenshot-38.jpg

Actually, she seems rather fine with this whole old lady thing. Or maybe it was just a good party.

Screenshot-39.jpg

The next day is graduation. Basil graduates with highest honors, is declared Valedictorian, and is voted Most Likely to Take Over the World—the same superlative his mother received. Honestly, this time, I feel like it suits the recipient better.

Screenshot-44.jpg

As the sun begins to set that evening, Basil takes Sherita out on a date to the scenic Twinbrook Esplanade. (She doesn't think to change out of her graduation robes into something more photogenic. Oh, well.) He tells her about his heirdom, his requirements, and his restriction to being a single parent. They discuss their options and decide not to get married just yet. They’d rather marry when it can be a permanent thing and they won’t have to separate afterwards. This will be possible when their second child is midway through his or her teen years. Until then, Basil and Sherita are content to remain unmarried.

Screenshot-50.jpg

Even so, Basil asks the question, just to make sure.

“Sherita, will you marry me in approximately twenty years’ time?”

Screenshot-52.jpg

“Um, heck yeah!”

Screenshot-54.jpg

Sherita moves in that night. Again, it's temporary––she can hang around until she gives birth, and then out she goes again until the next pregnancy…and out she goes again after that. Here she is after a bit of a makeover (though really, she didn’t need much help). Her favorite color is grey, but I dress her in red because I think it suits her.

Screenshot-57.jpg

Her traits are Brave, Good, Clumsy, Artistic, and Snob. Her lifetime wish is Master of the Arts, and she’s self-employed as a painter. She is allowed to keep her current career and earn money that way while she lives in the household. (It’s not like she’s going to make much anyway—she doesn’t even have the painting skill yet.)

Some fun facts about Sherita: At graduation, she was awarded Most Likely to Burn Down Her Own House. Very promising for a legacy partner. Also, I looked at Sherita’s family tree. She’s a direct descendent of the original Greenwood and Castor families, who lived on either side of the Middlemisses when the game started. The fun part is that Sherita’s mother, Emerald Greenwood Castor, recently remarried a gentleman named Greggory Cornwell, who used to be married to Sherita’s sister Regina. So basically, Emerald married her son-in-law. Cute, Emerald. Cute. Additionally, Sherita’s brother Morgan is dating the daughter of the infamous Angel Johnson. They just had a baby daughter together. Story Progression is certainly making this town a lot more interesting!

The next day dawns warm and humid. It’s Leisure Day. First things first—since passing the torch on to Basil, Roberta has been aching to invite Buddy back into the household. She invites him over and does the deed. Welcome back, Buddy! (The picture below is from Basil's party, before Roberta became an elder, but I just think it's so cute. Also, I completely forgot that I gave Buddy this swimwear outfit. I’ve never seen him in it. It’s amazing.)

Screenshot-34.jpg

Then Sezzad invites a very pregnant Juliana over, and they throw a little family wedding next to the house.

Screenshot-65.jpg

Congratulations, Sezzad and Juliana!

Sezzad moves out and joins Juliana’s household, so he can raise his children and be with the one he loves. The second the switch happens, Juliana goes into labor…and disappears off the lot. The family is left caught between throwing rice and screaming their heads off.

“Yay marriage!”

“Oh heavens, she’s in labor!”

Screenshot-68.jpg

Juliana is nowhere to be found, though. Sezzad doesn’t seem concerned and pulls out a book. I can’t control him anymore, so I guess poor Juliana is on her own. :(

When things finally settle down and the family heads back inside, Buddy approaches Roberta. The two of them have been all over each other since making their relationship "official" again in the last chapter. But it's not quite enough.

“Now that I’ve moved back in,” Buddy says, “Maybe…we could go back to the way things were?”

Screenshot-73.jpg

He gets down on one knee.

Screenshot-74.jpg

I love this picture because Buddy looks so happy and in love.

Screenshot-76.jpg

These two really are soulmates. They do this autonomously just after becoming engaged. Awww.

Screenshot-78.jpg

That very evening, Roberta and Buddy bring the family to Willowglen Ampitheater, where they had their first kiss and became boyfriend and girlfriend waaay back when they were teens.

Screenshot-81.jpg

Many years have passed since then, but their love is stronger than ever. They renew their vows under the towering pillars whilst their son and his fiancee chat with some random townies who show up on the other side of the lot. Oh well. You can’t have everything.

Screenshot-83.jpg

Screenshot-87.jpg

Congratulations, Roberta and Buddy! *wipes away happy tear*

And that is it for this jam-packed chapter. Phew! Next time, we’ll see Basil begin his third-generation adventure.



Registered members do not see ads on this Forum. Register here.

Offline Beks

  • Immortal
  • *****
  • Posts: 830
Re: The Middlemiss Random Legacy
« Reply #22 on: September 22, 2018, 01:09:33 PM »
Chapter 18 – Blues On Tattoosday

First, a couple of updates leftover from last chapter.

Buddy finally had his elder birthday. Somehow moving him out of the household messed with his age bar, so now he’s a couple days younger than Roberta. (Since he was her Imaginary Friend growing up, they’ve always had the same birthdays, until now.)

Screenshot-89.jpg

Screenshot-90.jpg

I forgot to show you some updates to the house that I did around the time Basil aged up. I renovated the first floor a bit, mainly the kitchen and dining room area. I emptied out the foyer and added a rug because who the heck knows what else to put in a foyer. (Later, somebody gifted the family a grand piano, so that's there now. Great timing!) This is also where the stairs to the brand new second floor are, and the fire pole thingy that everybody loves to slide down.

Screenshot copy.jpg

I can't find my screenshot of this, but Odile’s old bedroom is now a little office/study type room. The door to the basement remains locked for now. I’m not sure if I’m going to continue putting every heir’s awards and stuff in the basement—since I’m not doing portraits for this legacy, it doesn’t make for a very interesting “museum”. But we’ll see. We might need the space for other things in future generations.

Here’s the upstairs. It consists of an art studio for Sherita, a bedroom for Basil and Sherita, and a bathroom fit for a snob who likes to wear red.

Screenshot-2.jpg

Screenshot-3.jpg

Sherita starts painting pretty much as soon as she moves in. I don’t even have to make her—it’s all she ever wants to do, on her own. (Well, that and dance to the stereo downstairs.)

Screenshot-91.jpg

Roberta is the first to take to the piano, and she seems to enjoy it immensely. She gains a few skill points within a couple days.

Screenshot-93.jpg

Now that Buddy is home, the two of them spend a lot of time together––mostly doing different things, but near each other. I think it's adorable.

Screenshot-97.jpg

Basil starts trying to earn money by solving problems on the computer. He sucks at it. He doesn’t make a nickel until at least the third attempt, when he makes $83. Which is a lot more than I expected him to get so early on.

Screenshot-101.jpg

He also searches the galaxy for celestial bodies. One evening, he sees a rubber ducky...? And doesn't like it...?

Screenshot-120.jpg

Basil and Sherita are very much in love, so it's only natural that they consummate their, er, engagement early on.

Screenshot-106.jpg

The nausea hits Sherita like a train while she's painting the next day.

Screenshot-109.jpg

She realizes what is happening later that evening while standing in a pile of her own dirty clothes.

Screenshot-111.jpg

Basil is overjoyed. He can't wait to be a daddy.

Screenshot-113.jpg

Screenshot-114.jpg

For this generation, and for Basil, Tuesday is Tattoosday. He heads over to the salon bright and early to get his first tattoo.

Uh…that’s…that’s the wrong arm, dear…you’ve already done it on the other one…

Screenshot-117.jpg

That evening, Roberta once again takes a seat at the piano, and Sherita decides to join her on the guitar. They play blues together for hours. Buddy eventually joins in the fun with his own, er, instrument.

Screenshot-124.jpg

Sherita is very happily pregnant. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a pregnant sim do the “sigh dreamily and rub tummy” action as much as she does it. It’s really too bad that she has to move out as soon as she has the baby, and leave the baby behind. :(

Screenshot-125.jpg

Sherita goes into labor in her art studio, naturally.

Screenshot-126.jpg

Anxious about giving birth alone, she makes her way over to the stairs and...no, Sherita, wait, that's the pole! You don't want the pole!

Screenshot-127.jpg

Seriously?!

After surviving an act of idiocy that would probably end very tragically in real life, Sherita makes it to the kitchen in time to give birth to a baby boy.

Screenshot-129.jpg

Meet baby Llewellyn! He is Grumpy and Brave.

Sadly, now that the baby is here, his beautiful mama has to go. Basil comes over to say goodbye.

Screenshot-138.jpg

“I’m sorry you can’t stay here to help raise Llewellyn,” he says, holding Sherita in his arms.

“Oh, don’t worry,” she says easily. “I’ll be around. I’m going to help raise him even if I can’t live here.”

“You know you can come back when you get pregnant again,” Basil says slyly.

“I’m well aware,” she says, smiling.

Screenshot-134.jpg

It’s a bittersweet departure. Well, mostly bitter. Fortunately, Uncle Joe Bob has recently moved to the house next door upon the death of his wife, Allyson. Sherita will be living with him until her return—so she’ll always be just a hop, skip and a jump away. Not even that. More like a hop.

She kisses her baby boy goodbye, and heads out into the night. Well, not immediately. She falls asleep on Basil’s childhood bed first.

Screenshot-139.jpg

Basil must now raise Llewellyn on his own. He doesn't seem too worried about it––his fiancee is just next door, and his parents are around if he needs extra help. He's mostly just excited to experience fatherhood for the first time.

Screenshot-132.jpg

Next time, we'll watch Llewellyn grow into a toddler. Will he inherit his mother's adorable cheeks? His father's colorful features? Will he get to meet his alien "siblings" across town? Who knows? Not me!

Offline Beks

  • Immortal
  • *****
  • Posts: 830
Re: The Middlemiss Random Legacy
« Reply #23 on: September 25, 2018, 11:25:18 AM »
Chapter 19 – Lewobblin'

Llewellyn is a well-loved baby. When his daddy isn’t doting on him, his grandparents are lining up to give him a snuggle.

Screenshot-3.jpg

Very early Sunday morning (as in, right after midnight), it’s time for baby Llewellyn to age up! His grandpa brings him to the cake, not caring that he is giving off waves of stank. Poor Llewellyn. Get that baby OUT of your armpit, sir!

Screenshot-7.jpg

Here’s Llewellyn as a toddler. He’s all Sherita—he’s got her gray eyes, her nose, her cheeks, and her little rosebud mouth. I have no idea where his hair color is from, but it's so distinctive that it must come from somewhere up the family tree.

Screenshot-12.jpg

After a little bit of research, I conclude that Llewellyn got his hair color from his grandfather (Sherita’s father), Thomas Castor, who is a child at the start of the game. I also suspect Llewellyn’s gray eyes came from his grandmother Emerald.

Look at this lil' angel!

Screenshot-10.jpg

Some toddler spam for ya. (That’s all this chapter is, really…)

Screenshot-14.jpg

Screenshot-16.jpg

Screenshot-19.jpg

Screenshot-26.jpg

Screenshot-56.jpg

Screenshot-58.jpg

Basil finally becomes a four star celebrity. Almost there! Except he needs about a bajillion points to get to level 5, I’m pretty sure. Becoming friends with his very famous grandmother, Odile Middlemiss, is just the thing to push him over the edge.

Screenshot-22.jpg

Tattoosday rolls around, and Basil goes in for his second tattoo. He selects a pink bunny to go on his back, something Roberta will appreciate (and Odile would have also).

Screenshot-30.jpg

Screenshot-31.jpg

Sherita comes over to visit and ends up staying the night. Basil is happy to see her, and they autonomously spend more time talking than anything else. (I was hoping she’d take initiative to get to know her son a little bit, but she pretty much ignores him. Oh, well. When Llewellyn is a kid I can FORCE them to be friends. Muahahahaha!) (Also, please excuse the snowflakes floating around in the bedroom.)

Screenshot-41.jpg

In the morning, Sherita goes back to finish the painting she started before she moved out. Basil, of course, interrupts her work in order to tell her about his latest star discovery (this one is named Ducky). Here you get a nice look at his back tattoo, also. :D

Screenshot-48.jpg

Llewellyn gets to know his grandpa over the peg box game. Buddy is very enthusiastic about his grandson, but he doesn’t always get to him fast enough––Basil and the butler are both much speedier. But when everyone else is busy, it’s Buddy who pays the baby attention. It’s quite sweet.

Screenshot-49.jpg

Buddy is also the one to teach Llewellyn to talk. He encourages him to start thinking about his skills and interests early, so as to choose a good career in the future.

Screenshot-34.jpg

On Snowflake Day, I was going to have the family throw a party, since they haven’t in a while, but then Joe Bob invites Roberta to his feast party. He still lives next door. Everybody heads over there for the afternoon, while Llewellyn takes a nice nap.

Screenshot-50.jpg

Joe Bob is a three-star celebrity, so Basil spends some time rekindling their friendship. Joe Bob has caught the aging bug that seems to be plaguing my game––he’s supposed to be only about a week younger than Roberta, so he should be an elder by now for sure. (Buddy has also caught the bug. His age bar is stuck at 75, and I can’t figure out how to get it moving again.)

Screenshot-52.jpg

Basil is really living his celebrity dream. As he talks to his uncle, he keeps getting interrupted by party guests who want his autograph. He doesn’t seem to mind at all. Not surprising.

Screenshot-53.jpg

Buddy and Roberta are cute as ever and spend the whole night dancing to the stereo in the basement. They've become very acrobatic dancers over time...

Screenshot-54.jpg

Screenshot-55.jpg

That night, Basil gets to see both of his dead grandparents at the same time! He and Lincoln do the “Eww, a ghost” thing in perfect unison, which is hilarious.

Screenshot-39.jpg

Llewellyn's last toddler skill is walking, which Basil takes responsibility for.

Screenshot-46.jpg

I'll miss seeing this little guy as a toddler!

Screenshot-44.jpg

Next time, Llewellyn will age up to become a child, and hopefully we'll see more of Sherita as well (I've missed her).

Offline Beks

  • Immortal
  • *****
  • Posts: 830
Re: The Middlemiss Random Legacy
« Reply #24 on: September 28, 2018, 03:40:23 PM »
Chapter 20 – Life & Not Death

Author's Note: Before we get back to the story, I should update y'all on the state of my game. It's breaking. Slowly but surely, it's breaking. There is a pervasive aging bug that is currently affecting everyone in my household and a lot of people around town as well. Buddy's age bar froze at 75 days and hasn't budged since then. Roberta's worked for a while, I think (I haven't kept very good track), but I believe she's aging slower than she ought. (I just feel like she should have died of old age by now...but I'm not certain.) She is currently at 86 days. Llewellyn has never aged a day on his own since his birth; I've had to age him up manually with Master Controller at every birthday. And the same thing is happening to, uh, a newer member of the family whom you haven't met yet. It's impossible to tell with Basil, of course, because his weekly tattoo resets his age bar anyway. And finally, outside of the household, there are something like 30 babies in town, many of whom were born days or weeks ago, who haven't aged up yet. Others seem to be aging much slower than they should. Notzo Curious, who is a toddler at the start of a game in Twinbrook, is still alive and kicking––the last original townie (the last prior to him, Chase Bayless, lived to something like 107 and died a couple weeks ago), so I'm pretty sure his age bar is broken as well. All in all, aging is seriously screwed up in my game, and it doesn't seem like something that can be fixed since it's so widespread. All of this on top of the increasing lag has forced me to make a decision: next generation, we will move to a new town. I'm hoping that a new town will fix the aging bug and give us a fresh start.

So, that's that! Now back to the story.


It's time for Llewellyn to age up to child. One last attack of the claw (since I forgot to get a screenshot of it last time):

Screenshot.jpg

I can't even use the birthday cake to age him up, I guess because his age bar is still empty. Master Controller it is!

Screenshot-2.jpg

Here’s Llewellyn as a child. He gains the Perfectionist trait, to be added to his Grumpy and Brave traits. I’ve given him the same hairdo that his grandfather Thomas Castor had as a child at the start of the game. It suits him. They really do look a lot alike. (Go look him up on the wiki and you’ll see what I mean.)

Screenshot-3.jpg

He gets right to work on the skill that will surely come in handy later in life.

Screenshot-10.jpg

I discover something new about Llewellyn upon his aging up—he’s an Imaginary Friend! That makes him the third generation in a row with the IF genes. I’ve never seen this particular color of IF, but this is his doll form.

Screenshot-12.jpg

Basil sees right through the toy disguise (as he should, considering he can become one himself) and complains to his son about dirty dishes anyway.

Screenshot-14.jpg

Llewellyn spends lots of time playing with his own Imaginary Friend, Paddywack.

Screenshot-11.jpg

They look so cute in their matching outfits. They even strut in unison at times.

Screenshot-32.jpg

Llewellyn's grumpy trait does cause some tension, though. I caught them in the midst of an argument once and found that their Best Friend status had decreased to Acquaintance! Yikes. A few friendly interactions brought them back to where they were, but it was quite alarming. I've kept a closer eye on them since then.

Screenshot-38.jpg

Basil acquires yet another tattoo. (Is it Tattoosday again already?) This is his...third? I think? For some reason he’s really squeamish about this one…at least the tattoo artist works on the correct side this time around, though he is really not amused by his customer's squeamishness.

Screenshot-18.jpg

Sherita visits often, but she spends much more time making out with Basil than she does getting to know her son. *sigh*

Screenshot-7.jpg

One night, she comes over not feeling well.

Screenshot-15.jpg

Soon, she discovers that she's pregnant again! (This is also the best picture I got of Basil's new tattoo.)

Screenshot-20.jpg

Sherita moves back in with the family for the duration of her pregnancy. She spends most of her time painting, as usual. (She creates really lovely paintings. I love her style.)

Screenshot-23.jpg

After a fairly smooth pregnancy, Sherita gives birth to another boy, Junius. (I’ve rolled very tame names so far, except for Joe Bob. Maybe next generation will get weird?) He’s an excitable loner.

Screenshot-25.jpg

Screenshot-27.jpg

Sherita moves out as soon as she brings Junius home and lays him in his crib. This time, the game moves her in with her sister, Regina. At least Sherita will get to spend time with her sister and nephew. (Joe Bob, whom she lived with before, is busy with a new baby daughter and another on the way. Aren't you too old for kids, dude? Oh right, your age bar is broken too...)

With both children born, I go ahead and choose the heir. My original plan was to put both siblings in contention for heir, as long as the second child was a girl. But since Junius is a boy, I’ve chosen Llewellyn, since he's older and therefore closer to being able to move to a new town. (I also like him a lot so far, and probably would have chosen him anyway.) Congrats, Llewellyn!

Basil is still working hard to get his celebrity level up. He goes around to the wealthiest families and schmoozes with them late into the night. Then he goes home to stargaze until collapsing into bed at three or four in the morning. And now, he has the added responsiblity of a new baby to keep him busy. Poor Basil! (He doesn't seem to mind, as usual. He's a very loving daddy.)

Screenshot-28.jpg

It’s finally time for Junius’s toddler birthday! He, too, has inherited the broken age bar, so I have to age him up manually.

Screenshot-36.jpg

Okay, you know how I said Llewellyn looks like Sherita? I lied. Junius is the one who looks like Sherita. Like, wow.

Screenshot-37.jpg

He aged up with this slightly weird hair and for some reason I feel like it suits him. Or maybe I’m just playing favorites and not caring as much. I feel sorta bad. Sorry, Junius. You are definitely a cutie!

The next day, it’s Llewellyn’s turn to age up sans birthday cake.

Screenshot-41.jpg

Here’s Llewellyn as a teen. He looks like a sweetheart. (Also, he has the most feminine-looking lips I have ever seen on a male sim.) Sherita has certainly brought some interesting genes into the family! I have a feeling this guy is going to break a few hearts before he leaves Twinbrook forever…

Screenshot-46.jpg

He acquires the Natural Cook trait, to be added to his Grumpy, Brave, and Perfectionist traits. (Can you guess his rolled career yet?)

Llewellyn immediately starts playing with and caring for his baby brother. A good sign for future endeavors.

Screenshot-48.jpg

Basil takes Llewellyn out and starts teaching him to drive. (I don’t usually bother teaching teens to drive, but it’s the weekend and there’s time and they both roll wishes for it. So hey.) It’s very unfortunate that Basil can’t use Sezzad’s spaceship to teach his son to drive. (Did I ever mention that Sezzad left Basil his spaceship as a present? Well, he did.)

Screenshot-51.jpg

Basil also starts teaching little Junius his toddler skills, with some help from Grandpa Buddy the Ageless.

Screenshot-54.jpg

Screenshot-39.jpg

Next time, Llewellyn will progress through his teen years (at least in spirit, if not in reality), and perhaps experience some doomed love that cannot possibly last beyond his young adult birthday. Buddy and Roberta will continue to not die; Basil will continue to rise in fame and tattooedness; and Junius will finally learn to potty (watcher willing). There is much to look forward to. Toodles!

Offline Beks

  • Immortal
  • *****
  • Posts: 830
Re: The Middlemiss Random Legacy
« Reply #25 on: September 29, 2018, 06:15:55 PM »
Chapter 21 – Golden Years

Llewellyn’s teen years go by smoothly and quickly (to my relief). Junius, too, has a fairly uneventful toddlerhood.

As you probably guessed in the last chapter, Llewellyn has rolled Culinary has his career track, so he’s practicing cooking as much as possible.

Roberta is concerned. “Are you sure you didn’t leave the stove on, honey?”

“I’m making salad, Grandma…”

Screenshot-2.jpg

It’s tattoo time once again. This time, Basil goes for a llama on his shoulder. (Fun fact: My real-life brother has a llama tattooed on his bicep. It has nothing to do with the Sims…he just thought it would be funny.)

Screenshot-4.jpg

On the way home, Basil stops at the gym to work out a bit for a celebrity opportunity. While running on the treadmill, he finishes the opportunity, reaches celebrity level 5, and completes his lifetime wish! And with that, his requirements for Generation Three are done. Go Basil! *sigh of relief*

Screenshot-6.jpg

That night, Llewellyn heads off to prom. He hasn’t met anyone at school yet (he keeps forgetting to do his homework, so he usually has to work on that during school hours instead of meeting people)––I wonder if he’ll meet anyone interesting during prom. Maybe even a love interest?

Screenshot-8.jpg

Here is Llewellyn’s prom progression. (I always enjoy prom in The Sims 3. 100% of the time.)
1) He falls flat on his face on the dance floor.
2) Someone steps on his foot, and Llewellyn starts a fight because of it. (Jeez, grumpy much?)
3) Llewellyn is voted prom king??!
4) He stares at the lights and suspects aliens…?
5) He is denied for a dance and spends the rest of the night dancing by himself. :(
6) He spots “Ethan” on the dance floor and is like “What a joke!” I don’t even know who Ethan is, but okay.
7) He sees someone else wearing the same tuxedo. Oh no, was it Ethan?!

All in all, Llewellyn has a pretty lousy prom, aside from being crowned Prom King. Sorry, bud. Maybe you’ll get to go again next week and have a better time.

Everyone, our game has a new bug! This one is really weirding me out. Twice now, in the daily paper, there has been a notice about a new baby being born to the Middlemiss household––a baby that does not exist. Joe Bob and his new wife Kathy have had two babies recently, Rocio (a girl, oddly enough) and Edwardo. But I’ve only gotten notifications for two different Middlemisses––Adrianna and Marc. When I looked up those names in MC, it showed some elderly out-of-towner named Adrianna, but no Marc anywhere at all. What…on earth?

So yeah! My game is breaking!! And I can’t wait for this generation to be over!!! ;D

The Abbott family, one of the more well-to-do families in Twinbrook these days, throws a pool party on Leisure Day. I send the family over there to hang out, and Llewellyn chats up their teenage daughter, Rene. She’s in a relationship already, so for now the two of them are just friends. Llewellyn does roll a wish to kiss Rene, though.

Screenshot-14.jpg

Rene comes home with Llewellyn after school the next day. Whilst Llewellyn de-stresses on the computer for a bit, Rene goes right over and scoops up little Junius. What a sweetheart!

Screenshot-15.jpg

She really is quite cute—at least from the front. I’m not so sure about the side. :P If you’re curious about her lineage, she is the daughter of Bunny Curious (one of my favorite Twinbrook townies) and some guy named Lindsey Coker (not an original townie, as far as I know). Rene’s aging might be a little off, because both her parents died a long time ago—it doesn’t seem right that she’s only a teen. Rene’s boyfriend is Josef Vajjevoo, one of the sons of Juliana Jones-Brown from before she married our alien friend Sezzad. Josef, too, should not be a teen anymore…he was born long before Sezzad and Juliana got married, and even THAT was a while ago now. (Sezzad’s kids were some of the first indictators of the aging bug. I aged them up manually because they were stuck in baby mode, and they still haven’t aged beyond childhood weeks later.) Sorry if all of this is confusing—I just find the family trees in this game so interesting!

Screenshot-16.jpg

Anyway!

Junius is a very cute toddler, and deserves some recognition. Here he is going about his everyday toddler doings just before aging up to child.

Screenshot-10.jpg

Look at that majestic little walk.

Screenshot-17.jpg

At last, it's time for Junius's birthday.

Screenshot-21.jpg

I’ve decided to let his traits be random, since he’s not the heir. He rolls Coward. His other traits are Excitable and Loner.

He really is a miniature Sherita!

Screenshot-22.jpg

Junius rolls a wish to learn to fish, so off he goes to Hollowlog Springs to try it out.

Screenshot-23.jpg

Our household funds are slowly but surely approaching $300,000 at this point. Most of this has been Roberta’s doing—she’s still going strong at the top of the medical career, bringing in a few thousand simoleons every shift. (She IS still aging, by the way—albeit slowly. Every few days her age bar will freeze for a day or two, then start moving again. She’s at 88 days now. There is actually a very slight chance she won't live to see her grandson turn young adult.) Also, I sold a bunch of old furniture recently to try and lessen the lag, and that added quite a lot back in to the household funds.

After many, many hours spent searching the galaxy and hacking at night, Basil is finally contributing significantly to the family bank account as well. He hacks around a thousand simoleons into the account every night, and lately, he’s begun spotting meteors falling in town.

Screenshot-27.jpg

Sherita comes over during Llewellyn's teen years and finally spends some time getting to know him. They become friends and are joking around easily by the end of their time together. Hooray! It’s about time.

Screenshot-28.jpg

Screenshot-29.jpg

Llewellyn and Junius get along very well. They autonomously do their homework together almost every day after school.

Screenshot-30.jpg

As for our elderly lovers, Roberta and Buddy, they are as in love and as content as ever. It’s like they were never separated. Someone gifted the family a very fancy “grotto” hot tub recently, and those two do little else than cuddle in the bubbly waters.

Screenshot-32.jpg

Rene Abbott and Llewellyn have become really good friends. I’ve saved Llewellyn’s wish to kiss her, just in case the opportunity arises, and one day after school, he starts flirting with her a little. Unfortunately, she doesn’t respond well. She seems more committed to her relationship with Josef Vajjevoo than I expected. I was hoping to give Llewellyn a little romance before he leaves Twinbrook, but it looks like it wasn’t meant to be. Poor Llewellyn!

Screenshot-38.jpg

Basil's last Tattoosday arrives. I don't realize it's his last one and waste it on a very stupid tattoo that I thought would be funny. Well...it's funny, I guess. (It's kind of hard to see in the picture, but it's the obnoxiously grinning heart design, recolored to baby pink.)

Screenshot-36.jpg

Llewellyn spends his last few days as a teen cooking and hanging out with his family.

Screenshot-45.jpg

This family, large-ish though it may be, has remained pretty close altogether through the years––I think they all have high relationships with each other, which is kind of unusual in my experience.

Screenshot-46.jpg

Llewellyn also makes an effort to get to know his great-grandparents before he goes. Odile haunts the house fairly often, so he does get to meet her. Lincoln doesn't appear as often, though, so he may not get to meet him in time.

Screenshot-39.jpg

Screenshot-42.jpg

I’ll be sad to leave this family behind when Llewellyn moves away. As such, I’m feeling a little nostalgic. All too soon, Llewellyn will age up to young adult and strike out on his own—to an entirely new world. He’ll leave behind his parents, his grandparents, his little brother, and the ghosts of his great-grandparents. He’ll leave behind this big house that has been home to the Middlemisses for four generations. He’ll even leave behind his dad’s spaceship (unless I sneak it into his inventory and try to take it along…). I’m a little worried that he’ll leave behind his wishes and skills, too…I really, really hope not. In any case, Llewellyn will be leaving behind a great deal, and while I’m ready for a fresh start…I shall remember fondly the Middlemisses we’ve come to know so well, and I hope they’ll remain well and happy after Llewellyn is gone.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. Gotta save some sentimentality for the next chapter, in which Llewellyn will say farewell to his family and blaze a new trail for future generations of Middlemisses. *sniffle* My boy is almost grown up!

Offline Beks

  • Immortal
  • *****
  • Posts: 830
Re: The Middlemiss Random Legacy
« Reply #26 on: September 30, 2018, 11:24:46 AM »
Chapter 22 – Sunset Over Twinbrook

It’s Saturday morning—the last day of fall—Junius’s child birthday. And Llewellyn’s last full day as a resident of Twinbrook.

Screenshot-3.jpg

Basil wakes up early and makes a very important phone call. Actually, a lot of phone calls.

Screenshot-4.jpg

One of those phone calls is, of course, to Sherita. Basil invites her over and discusses his plans with her. She is all for them.

Screenshot-9.jpg

Things don’t happen immediately, though. The day’s big event is scheduled for the evening. Until then, the family waits.

Junius plays with Orange, his Imaginary Friend (whom I managed not to get a picture of). I did not know this was possible—apparently you can climb up fire poles?! Junius does this several times while playing tag with Orange.

Screenshot-6.jpg

Llewellyn cooks up a storm in preparation for the evening’s festivities.

Screenshot-12.jpg

Roberta moodily plays the piano and reflects on being 90 days old. (Yes, she finally got there. Who knows how old she actually is. Probably well over a hundred.)

Screenshot-8.jpg

That afternoon, Junius ages up to teen. (To save screenshots, I'll skip the sparkles.)

Screenshot-16.jpg

He looks so much like Sherita. It’s incredible. Oh, and he rolls the Hopeless Romantic trait. (His other traits are Loner, Excitable, and Coward.)

So I was all excited about the aesthetic of this wedding—the beautiful red falling leaves, in particular—but then it had the audacity to get COLD out and start snowing! I started to get very upset, until I remembered that Buddy has about a bajillion unused Lifetime Happiness Points. Time for Buddy to become master of the universe and control the weather for his son’s wedding day.

Because that's what's happening! It’s Basil and Sherita’s wedding day!

Screenshot-24.jpg

Everyone takes so long to gather that it’s completely dark out by the time the actual wedding happens. *sigh* While she’s waiting, clumsy Sherita straight up falls over while standing still. She recovers in time to say her vows, though.

“You’re so beautiful, Sherita…even though I can’t really see you…”

Screenshot-22.jpg

The weather machine works just in time. Even though it’s dark out, the wedding is beautiful, and a long time coming.

Screenshot-21.jpg

Screenshot-27.jpg

Cake time! (I love how Basil is like "Don't worry, everyone. I got this.")

Screenshot-29.jpg

The party doesn’t wind down until around 10 at night. This made me laugh—this is Rene Abbott leaving the party on a motorbike, still holding her uneaten wedding cake (though a glitch has made it invisible).

“Yeah, man. Great party. And this cake is FLY.”

Screenshot-33.jpg

And here's a little tribute to Alma Kline. Alma has been our butler for the past century (or thereabouts) due to the ubiquitous aging bug that is keeping her forever young. One of her last duties before the end of this era is to put away the leftover wedding cake. We’ll miss you, Alma!

Screenshot-34.jpg

The newlyweds return to the bedroom that is finally theirs to share for the rest of forever. No more separation for these two!

Screenshot-37.jpg

Winter arrives overnight, and by morning, Twinbrook is blanketed in snow. Llewellyn wakes up in his childhood bed for the last time.

Screenshot-42.jpg

He has his birthday the moment he wakes up.

Screenshot-47.jpg

The whole family comes in to celebrate, which I don’t think I’ve ever seen before (at least when the whole family was asleep moments ago). Guys, I think I’m gonna cry!

Screenshot-48.jpg

Here is our majestic Llewellyn, fourth generation heir and torch bearer who will carry the Middlemiss name into brave new worlds. His final traits: Grumpy, Brave, Perfectionist, Natural Cook, and Family-Oriented. His Lifetime Wish is to become a Celebrated Five-Star Chef.

Screenshot-50.jpg

As soon as he’s ready, Llewellyn goes around and says his goodbyes.

This brotherly hug...does not look comfortable.

Screenshot-51.jpg

"Goodbye, my grandson."

"Bye, Buddy. I hope you find your dad."

"What?"

"Nothing..."

Screenshot-53.jpg

Sherita slips a few of her paintings into her son's inventory as a parting gift.

Screenshot-57.jpg

"Remember, son, if you ever want to come back and visit, I'll be here, as young and famous as ever."

"I love you too, Dad."

Screenshot-58.jpg

Grandma Roberta is last.

"We'll miss you, Llewellyn. May your new life by a joyful one."

"Thanks, Grandma."

Screenshot-59.jpg

And with that, Llewellyn turns and walks out into the clear winter morning to start a new life.

Screenshot-61.jpg

Offline Beks

  • Immortal
  • *****
  • Posts: 830
Re: The Middlemiss Random Legacy
« Reply #27 on: September 30, 2018, 06:21:23 PM »
Chapter 23 – Sunrise Over Riverview

Welcome to a new generation, a new town, and a new era in the Middlemiss Random Legacy! I’m excited for this fresh start, and so is Llewellyn, who just arrived in Riverview.

Screenshot-68.jpg

This is the first time I’ve moved to a new town in-game. I actually messed up the first time––I didn’t realize that having Llewellyn make the call while still in his old household would cause the entire household to move WITH him. No, no, no! Bad, bad, bad! In a moment of panic, I exited without saving. Then I went back in (I’d saved just before the move, thankfully) and moved Llewellyn out to an empty lot in Twinbrook before making the move to a new town. That way it was just him moving, and not the entire glitched-into-immortality family. Phew!

Llewellyn still has his inventory, which includes Sezzad’s spaceship (given to Basil, then bequeathed to Llewellyn); a few of Sherita’s paintings; a Collection Helper (another gift courtesy of Buddy’s bajillion LTH points); his prom photo and prom king crown (why he wanted to keep those, I have no idea); Paddywack, his Imaginary Friend doll; and an Evil Mr. Gnome he picked up while trick or treating as a teen. He also brought the family funds with him (about 295,000 simoleons), but none of the value of his family’s furniture. And finally, he has retained his skills. Thank goodness! The only real bummer is that Llewellyn no longer has access to his own family tree. I expected this, but it’s still quite sad. He also has no relationships anymore except with Paddywack. I was sort of hoping he would be able to call his family, at least, but it looks like that isn’t an option. Oh, well. This is a fresh start. It’s time to start a brand-new family.

Anyway! Here are Llewellyn’s rolls for Generation Four:

Family Structure – Full House (heir + 3 other adults) (oh, dear)
Number of Children – 3 (oh, deary me)
Income – Culinary / Collecting / Music (classical) / Part-Time Job
Generational Goal – Fulfilled (all adults must fulfill Lifetime Wish, and all promised wishes must be fulfilled) (……help)
Miscellaneous Fun – My Precious (heir must keep a collection of something; this one has a lengthy description you can read here – it's number 18 under Section E: Miscellaneous Fun)

So! This generation is going to be hard. Like…really hard. Honestly, the part I’m most worried about is fulfilling all promised wishes. I tend to promise lots of different wishes and end up cancelling half of them. I can’t do that this generation. At all. If I click on a wish, for ANYONE, I have to make it happen.

I am terrified.

Anyway…let’s get on with the story. There is much to do and not enough time to do it in! *screams internally*

First off, the house! Llewellyn has moved into one of the empty houses in Riverview. I chose it because it has lots of bedrooms, which we’re going to need. I’ve redone the walls and floors and furnished it to suit the needs of a renowned legacy heir. (As always, it’s a work in progress.) (Also, apologies for the grid lines. I didn’t realize until long after how terrible they look in screenshots.)

First floor, with foyer, kitchen/dining area, living room, bathroom, and garage:

Screenshot-2.jpg

Second floor, with many bedrooms and a rather obscene amount of bathrooms:

Screenshot-4.jpg

After settling in to his new home, Llewellyn takes his spaceship downtown (thus making his arrival known to all of Riverview, no doubt) and inquires about a job at the bistro. He’s hired as a Kitchen Scullion.

Screenshot-5.jpg

Next, Llewellyn goes out to meet his neighbors. He needs to find three adults to live with him. One of these, he hopes, will be a spouse. He starts at a cute little farmstead just down the road from his own house that caught his eye when he moved in.

Screenshot-6.jpg

A young woman answers the door. She is plainly dressed and not stunningly beautiful, but there’s a certain quiet loveliness about her that Llewellyn likes right away. (I didn't get a screenshot of the hearts that flew up when they met each other, but hearts definitely flew up when they met each other.) She invites him inside and introduces him to her elderly father, Norman.

Screenshot-8.jpg

Her name is Elaine Joy. She seems to have some sense of who Llewellyn is—perhaps news from Twinbrook travels downriver? In any case, she’s a little overwhelmed at the sight of this handsome celebrity, and a legacy heir to boot! She just wonders why such an important Sim would waste his time visiting her and her old dad. What could she possibly do for Llewellyn Middlemiss?

Screenshot-9.jpg

Llewellyn and Elaine (that’s a mouthful) get to know each other a bit. Llewellyn learns that Elaine is a Natural Cook and Family-Oriented, just like him. She even teaches him a new recipe right then and there. He asks her about her love of gardening, and she asks him about the family he left behind in Twinbrook. All in all, they get along swimmingly.

Screenshot-10.jpg

Once they're friends, Llewellyn asks her to come over and see his new house.

“I’ll give you a ride,” he says, winking.

“Um…okay,” Elaine says.

He helps her into his spaceship, and off they go.

They stand in the foyer of Llewellyn’s home and chat some more. They’re already good friends, and before long, they’re flirting. Elaine gets sheepish when Llewellyn takes her hand for the first time.

Screenshot-14.jpg

“I don’t know what you’re doing, spending time with me,” Elaine says. “Aren’t there other famous Sims in town you could chase after instead?”

“I want to be with you,” says Llewellyn. “I’m so glad I decided to go to your house first. You’re the most interesting and beautiful person I’ve ever met.”

Elaine doesn’t know what to say.

Things progress, as they usually do. There is much conversation, much flirting, much dancing around the real issue at hand—that these two are wildly attracted to one another. And that time is of the essence! Come on, Llewellyn, make a move!

He does.

Screenshot-19.jpg

Since that kiss went over so well, Llewellyn decides to take the plunge and ask Elaine to move in.

“Move in…with you?” Elaine stammers. “B-But my father…he needs me.”

“You’ll be just down the road from him,” Llewellyn says “You can visit him as often as you like.”

“I suppose, but…” She pauses.

Screenshot-18.jpg

Llewellyn takes a deep breath. “Okay,” he says, “What if I ask you to marry me first?”

Elaine is struck utterly dumb.

“M-Me?”

“Yes, you. Will you marry me, Elaine Joy?”

Screenshot-20.jpg

“Um…yes! I suppose I...yes, yes I will!”

Screenshot-23.jpg

Now that she’s properly moved in, Elaine takes a trip to the mirror and the dresser for a bit of a makeover. I don’t normally like dressing Sims in pink, but it’s Elaine’s favorite color, so I do what I can, while staying true to the sort of modest farmgirl vibe I get from her. (And which I love.)

Screenshot-24.jpg

Elaine’s traits are Green Thumb, Natural Cook, Over-Emotional, Family-Oriented, and Good. A fantastic set of traits, really. Her lifetime wish is The Culinary Librarian, which should be easy enough to accomplish (and that is key). She is already several days into her young adult stage, though, which I didn’t expect. Time to get cracking!

As evening falls, Llewellyn warms up his new kitchen by cooking Elaine’s favorite, ratatouille.

Screenshot-25.jpg

They have their first dinner together as a couple.

Screenshot-26.jpg

Llewellyn and Elaine get married that very evening. Elaine called her father beforehand to invite him, but I guess he was a little upset about her moving out on him, because he “didn’t feel like coming over right now”. He misses a darn beautiful wedding!

Screenshot-27.jpg

Screenshot-28.jpg

Screenshot-29.jpg

Congratulations, you two!

Screenshot-30.jpg

The newlyweds head inside for their first woohoo in their beautiful yellow bedroom. (Yellow isn't a favorite color for either of them, but I just really wanted to have a goldenrod-themed master bedroom. I'm in charge, y'all.)

Screenshot-31.jpg

Screenshot-33.jpg

The next morning, Llewellyn is required to attend graduation. Even though he didn’t go to school here in Riverview. Oh well. He goes, but changes out of his graduation robes so fast I don’t even get a screenshot. (Nor did he toss his diploma afterwards. Hmph.) He graduates with merit and is voted Most Likely to Have a Big Family. Well, you’re not wrong there!

Screenshot-35.jpg

We are off to a lovely start here in Riverview. Next time, we’ll see some new faces in the household and hopefully get into the swing of everyday life. See ya then!

Offline Beks

  • Immortal
  • *****
  • Posts: 830
Re: The Middlemiss Random Legacy
« Reply #28 on: October 01, 2018, 12:00:45 PM »
Chapter 24 – Getting Lucky

Llewellyn has some tracking down to do. He needs to find two more adults to live in the household with him—adults whose Lifetime Wishes are achievable within the income constraints of this generation. He has heard about some Sims around Riverview that might make the cut.

He makes a trip across town to see someone he’s heard stories about. Some guy who apparently has a bathtub in his front yard? That can’t be true. Llewellyn goes to the run-down shack out in the countryside to check it out.

Well…it’s true, all right.

Screenshot-4.jpg

He meets the gentleman who lives in the shack. “Lucky Perkins,” the man says. “Welcome to my grand palace.”

Screenshot.jpg

It’s already late by the time Llewellyn arrives, so he only has time to get acquainted with Lucky. And give him a proposition.

“You’ve got a nice place here,” Llewellyn says politely, “But I think a guy like you deserves better.”

Screenshot-5.jpg

“Really? A criminal like me?” Lucky says.

“You didn't...mention that you're a criminal,” says Llewellyn. “We’ll have to discuss that. But, what would you say to living with my wife and I? We’ve got a nice house in town—it’s very spacious, with lots of…”

“How much would you say this house is worth?” cuts in Lucky.

“Er…I dunno exactly. A lot?”

"Would I be able to eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches?"

"Uh...yes?"

Screenshot-6.jpg

Lucky nods, and explains his dream of living in a household that’s worth a lot of money. “Sounds like your place is just the ticket!”

Llewellyn scratches his beard thoughtfully. “There are a couple of conditions, though. You can’t work as a criminal. You’ll have to get a part-time job instead. And you’ll have to help me raise my kids, when I have them.”

Lucky considers. He doesn’t seem to be completely satisfied, but he nods. “I’ll think about it, young man. In the meantime, this old man needs some shut-eye.”

He sends Llewellyn on his way.

The next day, Llewellyn shoots for a new target. He needs someone to work in the music career, on the classical track. There is one townie who will do perfectly, if he agrees to make the move.

Screenshot-7.jpg

Yuri Ivanov is already dressed for work, and Llewellyn doesn’t have a lot of time to convince him to join the household. He manages to befriend Yuri, but nothing more. He just barely has time to bring up the idea of moving in.

Screenshot-9.jpg

“I have kids, mate,” says Yuri. “But…your offer is still, somehow, very enticing. I almost feel as though I have no say in the matter. But I’ll let you know for certain tomorrow.”

Screenshot-8.jpg

Poor Yuri. He’s getting sucked into a legacy household when he already has a family of his own. He’s so perfect for this generation’s requirements, though, that I just have to have him. Sorry, Yuri! At least his mother-in-law will be around for a while to help Nadine raise the kids. (Also, fun fact: Story Progression is already making things interesting. Norman Joy, Elaine’s father, has just started dating Rayna Kaminski, Yuri’s mother-in-law. All three families are now nicely intertwined.)

Once Yuri leaves for work, Llewellyn calls Lucky and meets him downtown. There, he finishes the work of befriending him, and officially asks him to move in. Lucky agrees.

Screenshot-10.jpg

And travels to his new home on a rickety old bicycle. Because that's what you do, when you're Lucky Perkins.

Screenshot-11.jpg

I picked Lucky because his lifetime wish is Living in the Lap of Luxury, and because he doesn’t have any familial attachments, and because he’s always intrigued me (who doesn’t want to play an old man in a top hat whose front yard features a bathtub?). When he joins the household, though, he doesn’t immediately fulfill his LTW, as I expected. I should have known—the simoleon requirement has gone up, I guess because the value of the household is already above 100,000 simoleons. In any case, we’ve got to add nearly 100 grand more to the household value before Lucky maxes his LTW. I really hope we can make that happen in time…

Here’s Lucky (in his pajamas, hence the lack of top hat). I didn’t change his appearance—just his outfits a little bit. He quits his job as a criminal and instead takes up a part time job at the mausoleum. His traits are Slob, Genius, Easily Impressed, Kleptomaniac, and Mooch. Not the greatest traits, but he’ll do. Maybe he can steal a few valuable items to get the family’s net worth up (though we won’t be able to sell them afterwards).

Screenshot-22.jpg

Yuri comes over the next day and, after much convincing, agrees to move in. Phew! Getting these guys to join the household only took three days… (Also, look, the whole family is together in one shot!)

Screenshot-12.jpg

Here’s Yuri. Again, I altered his outfits, but not his appearance. He’s a really good-looking guy…if this generation’s heir was a female, I’d have been sorely tempted to steal him from Nadine. His traits are Flirty, Loves the Outdoors, Technophobe, Kleptomaniac, and Frugal. His LTW is Swimming in Cash, which in this case (again) is higher than the starting amount of 50,000 simoleons. He needs to reach 250,000 simoleons instead. Fortunately, he’s already at level 3 of the music career! That will help a lot.

Screenshot-14.jpg

So even with these relatively easy lifetime wishes, we have our work cut out for us. Yuri will stay in the music career; Lucky now works at the mausoleum; and Elaine will take over as the family collector, though there’s not much she can do right now in winter. I feel bad that she can’t have a more legitimate career—she has such great traits, and such great potential. But she’ll make a wonderful mom, for sure.

Speaking of which…with all four adults in place, it's baby-making time!

Screenshot-18.jpg

Things begin to settle into a bit of a routine, at least for the winter when everyone is stuck indoors. The boys get to know each other over a game of chess in their pajamas.

Screenshot-23.jpg

Elaine and Llewellyn bond over their shared love of Cookin’ Cable.

Screenshot-24.jpg

Hey, now we have a great use for the fancy schmancy guitar that’s been sitting in the family inventory for years!

Screenshot-15.jpg

I guess fireplaces come with risks…there’s a fire that afternoon! My first in this legacy, if you don’t count Lincoln’s meteor. (I’m still not over that.) First the butler becomes enflamed, along with one of our brand-new living room chairs. The butler runs off to extinguish herself.

Screenshot-26.jpg

Then the fire spreads. Thankfully, Llewellyn is on top of it.

Screenshot-28.jpg

Then Lucky lights up.

Screenshot-29.jpg

Llewellyn saves the day once again, with some help from the butler, who has returned to the fray after putting herself out. I didn't notice the butler's thought bubble until now...

Screenshot-31.jpg

All is well.

Screenshot-32.jpg

Once the fire is under control, everybody heads to Norman Joy’s house for a Snowflake Day swimsuit party. (Why is it always a swimsuit party when it’s freezing outside??) Llewellyn rolls a wish to befriend his father-in-law, so that’s what he spends the evening doing. (I forgot to get a screenshot, though...)

Poor Lucky is having a very unlucky day. First he lights himself on fire, and then just hours later he freezes solid in the snow, and Elaine has to go over and thaw him out.

Screenshot-35.jpg

I’m surprised SHE hasn’t frozen to death—she’s spent the whole party building snowmen in her swimsuit.

Screenshot-34.jpg

Then Lucky goes in to take a bath to warm up. He's in there all of three seconds before Norman storms in and yells at him for acting inappropriately.

Screenshot-37.jpg

Everyone is cold, hungry, and tired...I think it’s time to go home. But not before Elaine is overcome with a wave of nausea.

Screenshot-38.jpg

Next time, we'll discover the cause of Elaine's sickness (what ever could it be?). And hopefully other exciting things. Toodles!

Offline Beks

  • Immortal
  • *****
  • Posts: 830
Re: The Middlemiss Random Legacy
« Reply #29 on: October 02, 2018, 01:10:02 PM »
Chapter 25 – Long-Expected & Unexpected

Surprise, everyone! I have a surprise! Nobody knew this was coming!

Screenshot.jpg

Yes, Elaine is pregnant. And she got one of the best pregnancy outfits I've ever seen. Look at that skirt and stocking combo! (I’m pretty sure that’s one of Roberta’s skirts from two generations ago.) She immediately rolls a wish to have a boy, but I can’t promise it for her in case she has a girl instead. I’m hoping for a girl, myself.

Friday is the first day when all three gentlemen go to work—and they all go around the same time. I didn’t plan this, but they all have evening shifts, which means Elaine has the house to herself for a few hours every night. Fortunately, her father provides her with a distraction—he’s throwing yet another party! Elaine takes the opportunity to go over and tell him about her pregnancy. He’s thrilled. He seems to have forgiven his daughter for leaving him so suddenly. I'm sure his engagement to Rayna Kaminski (Yuri's mother-in-law) is a very nice distraction.

Screenshot-4.jpg

Elaine has a very relaxed pregnancy. She pretty much just rests, reads, and watches kids TV.

Screenshot-6.jpg

Llewellyn is so excited to be a daddy.

Screenshot-22.jpg

One night after the men all get home from work, this happens.

Screenshot-7.jpg

Bye, Yuri! Have fun!

Screenshot-18.jpg

Since moving in, Yuri and Lucky have both made attempts at flirting with the lady of the household. I guess it’s to be expected (at least with flirty Yuri…not sure what’s up with Lucky), but it’s preventing any of those three from having good relationships with each other. Thankfully Elaine rejects every advance. (One time, after Yuri flirts with her, she promptly commands him to feel her tummy. As if to say, “How dare you flirt with me. I am PREGNANT. With my HUSBAND’S child. Here, feel for yourself!”)

Screenshot-24.jpg

Spring has sprung at last (this winter felt endless). Elaine finally has a chance to go out into the backyard and start a little garden. She’s been itching to garden ever since moving in.

Screenshot-26.jpg

And then, one bright spring morning, Elaine goes into labor. The boys freak out for a few minutes, then wander off and do other things. (I captured the moment when Lucky was like, “You know what, I’ve got better things to do.”)

Screenshot-31.jpg

Eventually Llewellyn shows up and freaks out, but then he has to leave for work, leaving Elaine pretty much alone.

I love the "Oh god, here it comes!" face. It makes me laugh every time.

Screenshot-37.jpg

At last it's over, and Elaine gives birth to a beautiful baby boy named Ludwig...

Screenshot-38.jpg

...and a beautiful baby girl named Peach!

Screenshot-41.jpg

(Remember how I said I’m rolling random names off a list of hillbilly and Victorian names? Well, I finally got some good ones this time around. That is, bad ones. So bad they’re amazing.)

Ludwig’s traits are Brave and Athletic, and his favorites are Indie, Crepes, and Hot Pink. Peach’s traits are Loves the Outdoors and Artistic. Her favorites are Roots (naturally, with a name like that), Autumn Salad, and Yellow.

Elaine is a very attentive mother. She is always autonomously going into the nursery to snuggle her daughter and son, making sure they don’t get lonely. That's exactly what she's doing when Llewellyn comes home to see his babies.

Screenshot-43.jpg

What a good father he’s going to be!

Screenshot-48.jpg

Look at this adorable family. I'm obsessed.

Screenshot-49.jpg

After his little journey to the stars, Yuri essentially balloons overnight. A day or two later, his belly is glowing green. He seems to have no fathoming of what could possibly be the cause. I guess I wouldn’t, either…or at least, I’d be in denial.

Screenshot-59.jpg

I know it's uncomfortable, man. Just think of what Elaine had to go through, with twice the amount of baby inside her! But then again, at least she has the anatomy to accomodate it...

Screenshot-63.jpg

Then one morning, whilst playing chess with Llewellyn, Yuri feels himself about to burst. (I love how Llewellyn does not notice or care. He just goes on playing chess.)

“Hey…hey Llewellyn? A little help here? I think I’m dying?”

Screenshot-68.jpg

Yuri gives birth to an alien baby. He names him Boris. He is born with the traits Clumsy and Loves the Heat. And immediately, something must be done. The baby can’t stay here in this household—the rules of this generation don’t allow for it. The third child born to the household needs to be a Middlemiss, not an Alien-Ivanov. Yuri has to do something.

Screenshot-70.jpg

So he sneaks out of the house before anyone has a clue what has happened (least of all Llewellyn, who was right there the whole time). He takes a taxi across town, to avoid calling any attention to himself. (Somehow the spaceship seems like a bad idea.)

Screenshot-73.jpg

Yuri shows up at his own family’s door. Nadine, his wife, comes out, and she does NOT look pleased at what her husband has brought.

"Oh, hi, honey. Thanks for taking the time to visit. And what's this you've brought, you little punk?"

Screenshot-75.jpg

Nadine musters up enough politeness to invite him inside, where, uh, Norman Joy and Rayna Kaminski (actually Rayna Joy...they just got married) are making out passionately in the living room. Get a room, guys!

Screenshot-79.jpg

Yuri goes straight into the little nursery where his children, Tatiana and Dimitri, spent their baby days. He puts little Boris into the crib and turns to find Nadine standing behind him.

Screenshot-78.jpg

"So. Care to explain?" says Nadine.

Yuri sheepishly explains his abduction, his fuzzy memories of what exactly happened up there, and the resulting pregnancy that caught him completely by surprise. Nadine listens. And, amazingly, she doesn’t seem too upset.

“It happens,” she says. “That is, stranger things have happened in this world. Did you hear about the meteor that killed a guy in Twinbrook a few decades ago? Apparently his family became friends with an alien after his death, and even let him move in with them. Crazy stuff. This isn’t that weird, all things considered.”

Even better, Nadine agrees to take in little Boris and care for him as her own. Yuri thanks her profusely and gives her a kiss before heading out to work.

Screenshot-80.jpg

Next time, we’ll see our little munchkins age up to toddler! I can’t wait!