The Gregory Legacy, Chapter 16

"Look! Over there!"
What is it?
"Another semi-timely update. Isn't that unbelievable?"
Verily, readers, another chapter is upon us. After last chapter's spooky escapades, we need to get the regular legacy life stuff moving again, so let's jump right in . . .

Aaron has started going on space missions regularly when he has time off, now that I feel he has sufficient skill. Also, trying to build rocket science skill at this level from reading books is like pulling teeth. Only slower. And more painful. Anyway, he's had a great track record with his missions so far.

He even brought back this . . . thing. It's a space squid, and I thought it said it was a live one, but I'm not so sure now. It just sits there like the frogs, but it's a nice, creepy decoration for the focus room.

Anyway, our heiress, Laurel, has completed the Artistic Prodigy aspiration, her second, and seems to have enough time to possibly complete a third, which will be Social Butterfly. Now that I've done that one a few times, it no longer intimidates me. Laurel is, you may remember, also Physically Gifted due to completing Rambunctious Scamp.

Laurel heads out to visit some houses to collect acquaintances that she can later call over to make friends with at her leisure. She happens to be in a house of some of my legacy loves when she meets a cheerful little girl named Kori Baxter. Kori happens to be sitting on a stool in this picture, which accounts for the weird angle, by the way.

Once she's got enough acquaintances, Laurel spends some time getting to know Kori, and they hit it off right away. Kori and Laurel are almost instant friends.

Hanging out together put both of them in a very good mood, but Laurel was getting sleepy, so it was time to head home.

Back home, and Luke has been spending his time mourning Marjorie. All of the family are now sneaking out there if they're on autonomy. It's not like they don't have cool things to do inside the house, or heaven forbid they ever use their pool or hot tub. Instead they prefer to collect sad moodlets.

Laurel comforts Luke by becoming best friends. I wanted her to be best friends with Kori since they got along so famously, but she was too tired and hungry to finish it out and I wanted to get that milestone over with.

Before heading to bed, Laurel also gets a hug from grandpa Nathan. Aww.

Well. That lasted long. We fed the cowplant like, all the time, and yet it still died after just a few days. Oh well. We have more seeds if we want another one, and in the meantime we have an awesome lawn ornament.

Party time, but just a little family party this time. The twins are growing up! Liam gets to use the zombie cake that no one ever actually ate at the spooky party, and Luke gets the customary silly hamburger cake.

Happy birthday, boys! Let's see some good traits, hmm?

Well. That's . . . different. We've got a cowboy and a well-dressed punk. Makeover time!

Here's Liam. He is evil, of course, but now he is also neat and wants to be a serial romantic. A fastidious, seductive villain? I can work with that. I dressed him as neatly as possible while still keeping it a little nice to draw some future girlfriends in. I'm really glad he's not the heir though, because I'm not really a fan of serial romantic in legacies. Been there, done that.

Luke got to keep his mohawk because it kind of just worked on him. He's still insane, but now he's a glutton like his father. He also wants to be a Master Chef, so the glutton kind of makes sense. He got his usual silly-ish green and yellow clothes. I think both the boys turned out pretty handsome. Good genes, this lot.

"You know what would be awesome? If we fried the space squid in a light olive oil with some rosemary."
"First of all: ew. Second of all: why?"
"Why what?"
"Why would that even occur to you as a thing to do?"
"I'm an insane glutton. Why wouldn't it?"
"Point."

While I was marveling at the twins being their unique selves, Aaron managed to make it out to the mausoleum. Sigh. These sims and their mourning. It's a little too realistic for me, which I guess is why I find it annoying. I like a liiiiittle more escapism, please.

When I told the boys to do their homework, they plopped down on the ground just like they did in the nursery their first day as children. The extra funny thing is that the focus room, with the desks, is literally just off the kitchen to the left, and the dining room table is there in the background. There's even a couple of barstools at the island! There is no reason for them to sit on the tile and do their homework there, but that's the twins for you.

Once the party is over, Laurel invites all her acquaintances over one by one and befriends them. It looks like she may complete a third aspiration after all.

"Why am I here?"
Well, I miscounted, and Laurel needs one more child friend. You took her to the park so she could go meet and befriend another child.
"Why in the world would I want to do that?"
You're also here to look for girls your age.
"Oh. Well, you should have led with that.

Sadly, he did not find any. The only teenage girls he knows are simJ and a Legacy Love named Olivia. Olivia would be a perfect girlfriend, but she apparently never answers her phone (she's never on the screen of choices when I have him chat) and I'm not keen on foisting Liam off on the unsuspecting simJ, so he needs some new options.

Laurel befriends a cute little redhead playing on the toys, and completes her aspiration. She is now Socially Gifted with just a day or two before her birthday. Will I try for a fourth? Probably not. Let her rest on her . . . laurels . . . now.

Luke's aspiration is proving a lot easier than Liam's since the stove is much more available than potential girlfriends, apparently. He spent a lot of time cooking until he had to be an adult for the next stage, so he got as far as he could as a spare. Good job, Luke!

Oh, god. Then we have to talk about Jaron. Remember when he did an 'alluring introduction' to a guy Marjorie was trying to woo, sinking that relationship? Well, now that he's a ghost, he's trying it on his . . . uh, granddaughter-in-law? Whatever, still an inappropriate target. Luckily, Dayna did not accept so they don't have even the beginnings of a romantic relationship, but it's not for Jaron not trying.

While they're having their inappropriate chat, I went in and got rid of most of the garden, except for two spliced plants, one of which produces cowplant seeds, and the carrots and strawberries. I'm just so sick of Dayna having to care for these plants for no apparent reason when it sucks up all her time, and the money helped since I'm terrified of the next round of bills.

Jaron then went and mourned Natalie, which tugged at my heartstrings a bit. Okay, so maybe he was creeping on Dayna, but I rarely get more than one haunting at a time, so I guess he hasn't seen Natalie in a while. Sad.

Glitches ahoy! Leo, you've been in your mom's tummy once; I don't think you need a second shot.

The reason for that bit of routing trouble was a birthday party, this time for Aaron, who is becoming an adult. Marjorie makes sure the attention is really on her, though.

"Have I still got it or what?"
Yeah, yeah. Can't argue with that. Aaron is a good-looking sim and adulthood has done nothing to squelch that.

Leo completed his Whiz Kid aspiration! That means every child has completed at least one aspiration this generation. I feel accomplished.

"And then, the freezer bunny told me that dating causes the common cold, so teenagers who date are really increasing the misery in the world. I was surprised, but it's hard to argue with a sage such as the freezer bunny."
"Okay, Dad. I don't believe a word of that, and I'm still going to date when I'm a teenager, but I appreciate the concern, I guess."
"I'm glad we had this talk."

"Now that my daughter is sure to be a hermit as a teenager most definitely, I can safely go explore the cosmos again! Farewell for now, world!"

Aaron is taking off, and so must we, for this is the end of the chapter. Next chapter we'll see Laurel's very special birthday party, some surprises in the dating department for multiple sims, and other Gregory shenanigans. Although I have some pictures already, the next chapter might take a while since I'm doing Nanowrimo, but rest assured it will come. Please come visit me at SiMania or Boolprop! Thanks for reading!