The Gregory Legacy, Chapter 39

Hello! My brain has grown back after the trials of NaNoWriMo in November. We are opening with the first cover picture of Eleanor as our heiress, which is also the first toddler cover picture. She's adorable, isn't she? Last chapter we saw more of the twins' toddlerhood and the appearance of their younger sister Taylor, who has it out for Eleanor. The family also started the plantsim challenge because I am so behind with my pictures. Otherwise, they were mainly occupied with keeping three toddlers happy and the day-to-day grind of work and house upkeep on top of that. So let's see some more actual stuff happen, right? More to follow . . .

We start with all three girls in the toddler nursery, finally all asleep and not having nightmares for once. They are a handful, to be sure! This will be the last time they share a room like this though, because it is finally - FINALLY - time for Eleanor and Eileen to grow into children.

Their birthday party was a total mess. I wanted them to grow up simultaneously, but autonomy was on of course, and the adults kept setting the toddler they were holding down to check on the other one or try to steal something from the fridge or some other stupid action. I could not get two adults to stand side by side and grow up the girls at the same time. It was awful.

By the way, both girls are growing up with the trait for getting all skills to three. They each had one or two skills that had reached a four, but except for potty, they didn't max any, and I was struggling with my first set of toddlers so I decided not to be an overachiever and settle for the 3-points trait. It'll work well enough, and they're lucky they got even that!

You guys shouldn't be looking so smug. I'm still mad at all of you for how terribly this birthday went. Eleanor grows up first. 

And Eileen follows. 

Eleanor: "I'm sad."
Taylor: "Is it because you look stupid?"
Eleanor: "Shut up. This is my madeover party outfit. I look adorable."
Taylor: "I wasn't talking about your clothes, stupid."

That bit of sibling rivalry aside, here are the twins post-makeover in their everyday. They're super cute! You can't see from this picture but Eleanor has braces (she has the long hair) and Eileen is missing her two front teeth. Eleanor is now cheerful and wants to be a Whiz Kid, while Eileen is gloomy but desires to be a Rambunctious Scamp. I dressed Eleanor in a dorky, happy style befitting her personality. Eileen I just can't see as gloomy and she rarely was in her childhood, so I guess I was right in retrospect. Anyway, she was such a happy toddler and she's such a sweet kid with that physical, hyper Rambunctious streak that I wanted to dress her in bright colors, but I compromised by using dark blue with yellow to satisfy what I saw as her conflicted personality. 

Celeste took the twins on an outing to the park to work on aspirations, scare up some magic beans, and just generally get the kids out of the house. Eleanor's first aspiration-helping chess game was with her many-times-great-aunt Corinne. 

 Eileen met a little boy named Dale while she was working on her aspiration, and they made friends very quickly.

I wanted this guy's bean so bad - which, no, is not a euphemism - because his name is Jonathan Lima. Get it? It'd be a Lima bean. But this bit of totally-genius hilarity was prevented because he was not in the right mood. 

Celeste wasn't having much luck with the plantsim townies, so she played with Eileen and Dale for a while, which they appreciated. 

 She doesn't play favorites with her kids, though, so her next act was to get in some chess with Eleanor. The trip to the park wasn't a total bust, but I think Celeste only got one more bean.

Back home, I redecorated the twins' new rooms. This one in the middle is Eileen's in blue and yellow, with her traits-be-damned optimistic styling. Ava's room is still untouched on the left, but someday it will be Taylor's and I'll make it over when I know more about her personality. 

Eleanor got the big bedroom, as is befitting the next heiress, and I decorated it in pink and light blue for her, with lots of sweet and knowledge-oriented touches. I see her as being a little girly but still mainly interested in pursuits of the mind. 

Here's Celeste totally failing at using potions to psyche up for a promotion.

Celeste: "What, you want me to drink two potions quickly, one after the other, before going to work? Here, let me take them out at the same time and then drop them instead. Ah, perfect." 

 Still on the hunt for magic beans.

Still working on child aspirations. 

Still caring for a toddler. This is the grind-y part of a generation. 

Then, Jasmine did something I found truly wondrous. She stopped by the house (for no reason; we didn't call her) in her actual outfit! Ever since the first growfruit challenge, she has worn that stupid pink blazer in this game and all the themed outfits for the other challenges simply never showed up. But I'm pretty sure this is what she was supposed to wear for the plantsim challenge, and it left me simply gobsmacked that she learned how to dress herself after years in that blazer. Hopefully this is a sign of good things to come! 

Eleanor: "So, Grandma, Mom tells me that being an heiress is all about performance and responsibility. I get that, being a huge nerd. Since you are/were a scientist, I bet you really felt that too, huh?"
Faye: "Oh, hell no. Being heiress is about getting away with things no other sim could get away with. You have to work and marry and have kids and all that, but being the heir is really all about having leeway to formulate and execute your most devious heart's desires."
Eleanor: "I see . . ."

Please don't put thoughts in her head, Faye. Somehow Celeste came out all right despite being raised by you, and I'd like Ellie to continue that new trend.

No, Frank, she's a little busy right now. Find literally any of your other friends for a heart-to-heart at this particular moment. 

Caleb Vatore stopped by, and Faye decided she had a great idea. You can see that Laurel knows exactly where this is going and is already embarrassed by it. 

Faye: "Would you like to try my new wonder serum, Mister? Does wonders. Yup, truly wonderful."
Caleb: "You know, we've heard reports of a strange epidemic of new ghosts in this neighborhood, even all the way out in Forgotten Hollow."
Faye: "Is that so? Strange. I don't see what it has to do with . . ."
Caleb: "Have you tested this serum?"
Faye: "Yes! Not for a while. I was perfecting the formula. But I have tested this multiple times."
Caleb: "Well, ok."

Caleb: "Sigh . . . you didn't mention whether they were successful tests."
Faye: "Sigh . . . and you didn't ask. Oh well."

So Faye killed Caleb too. She is the worst at making serums, but one day she will get this right!

So Caleb spent the rest of the night playing in a garbage pile in our basement as a newly-minted dead vampire, then left with the morning sun. Ha ha. Whoops. 

When Taylor woke up, she was starving, so I got her a nice healthy meal from the fridge, just the first thing I saw like I always grab, and left her to it while I checked on the other six members of the household. 

Eleanor: "Um, you might want to have another look. We just got an ominous notification, and it would be just like bratty Taylor to get herself taken away."

WHAT?

Taylor's food spoiled while she was eating so she put it down and continued starving, and we got a warning notification. Even if Taylor is a little demon made of clinginess, sibling rivalry, and an apparently quite discriminating palate for a toddler, we want to hang on to her! I quickly got her another plate of something non-spoiled and watched her eat it all until that horrible red plumbob went away. 

With that crisis averted, I sent the twins out to enjoy the nice day in their backyard. They've been skilling pretty much constantly due to growing up before a weekend, and I wanted them to have some fun as children. 

With her motor skill, Eileen is able to pull off some slick trick moves. 

After sitting in front of a chessboard or a computer all the time, Eleanor . . . is not. Notice that Eileen is so good at this that she can apparently just walk on a water-covered slippery piece of plastic rather than sullying her feet on the grass in order to get back to the start. I watched them play on this for an embarrassingly long period of time. It was just so fun, and watching the contrast between the two was pretty amusing. 

Damn you, Jasmine! *shakes fist* I thought we had a good thing going with you wearing the appropriate outfit, and now you're back in growfruit gear? Grr.

With there being less to do with only one toddler in the house, Faye had some time to work on stocking her inventory with more ghost goo serums. One day, one of these is going to work. Until then, Faye will just have to keep heartlessly murdering innocent sims with poison. It's the only choice, really. 

We still needed the angry and flirty beans. Faye is sent to take care of the angry one. She is working on the Chief of Mischief aspiration now anyway, so this works for her. This is Faye's aunt, Nathalie, that she is pissing off so she can ask her for a bean. Nathalie is married to Luke, in case you don't have their huge family tree memorized like I do.

Rafael: "Yay yay yay! A fight!"

I am not sure you should be encouraging her. However, we did get the bean after this.

Redhead from the Science Facility whose Name I Never lLarned was then quickly wooed into a flirty state, asked for a bean, and then asked to be friends by Raf. I felt kind of bad about this because I don't feel like he's the cheating type, let alone smart enough to manage it, but I really wanted that tree, so you know, the ends justify the beans. I'm not even sorry about that pun. 

Full set of beans! 

 Wet full set of beans!

Magical tree!

I sent Raf in because if it were actually a monster and had eaten him, he is the sim I would prefer to lose.

Alas, Rafael survived another day and came back with a forbidden fruit seed, which he quickly planted. 

Meanwhile, the twins are still enjoying a day of leisure. 

Taylor has to skill, though, because I want her to get the same Happy Toddler trait that her sisters got. 

The club is over and keeping Celeste entertained (unwillingly, but still) on the treadmill that evening. 

 

On the next load up, I had given simJ and simRoxy makeovers. I didn't like this shirt for simJ, though, so I later changed it. I also completely remade these two from scratch in my library, and they look a billion times better, but these versions of them are already so ingrained in the Gregory life that they get to stick around. 

Kori: "Oh, it's so tragic how Natalie died fully one million years ago. Still haven't gotten over it."

Whatever, weirdo.

Meanwhile Eileen's two heavyset, glutton forefathers, Jaron and Nathan, regale her with life tips while in their swimwear. It's kind of amazing anyone grows up sane in this household. I mean, assuming that they do. It's kind of arguable. 

Celeste: "I fed my child healthy food! In the high chair, no less. I am such a good mom!" 

You may think I am writing that hyperbolically for comedic effect, but I really am that happy about this. Good job, Celeste.

Ooh, my first school projects in the game! I kind of guessed that maybe sims with a related skill helping might help create better quality projects. I have no idea if this is true or not, but I had Celeste help with Eleanor's diorama because she has high painting, and Faye helped with Eileen's volcano because she has high logic and handiness. Andres helped because he is just honestly a good guy. 

Both projects turned out of the highest quality, and I put them in the girls' rooms. Everyone was pretty pleased about this, but me most of all. 

Hey, Natalie! What's shakin', bacon?

Natalie: "Oh, just spent a couple hours reassuring Kori that being dead isn't so bad and anyway, I've had plenty of time to get used to it. You know, she's still new to this, only having been dead a generation."

Taylor: "Ooh! A puppet show! Hey, wait, that's Eleanor's voice. Hmm. I do kind of like where the story is going, though. I'll just watch quietly for now." 

Taylor: "BOOOOOOO! Where's the puppet? You suck, Eleanor! Your show sucks! Your whole life sucks! You're an embarrassment to Gregorys everywhere!"

Geez, that was a quick turnaround.

Celeste has reached the terrifying state of maximum body potential, meaning she just has to max her body skill to satisfy the requirements for Bodybuilder. 

Remember when, two chapters ago, Faye and Andres had their youth potions? Yeah, well, I didn't. This is one problem with playing so spread out. I actually looked through my pictures folder to see if they had had their potion already (this is one reason I always take pictures of this), but I guess I missed it, and I hadn't yet written the chapter when I played this. So they got another potion. I am docking myself -10 points from the imaginary score I don't keep, so that seems fair. If anything, my punishment is that Faye will be around even longer!

Nightmares. Sigh. 

Eileen has apparently been taking trick slide lessons from her twin. Not a smart move. 

Grandma/granddaughter potty time. What a lovely bonding moment! 

I got so tired of sims rolling darts whims all day, day in and day out, so I sold it and put the Parenthood board up instead. Unfortunately it's kind of at the back of the house, so I often forget to use it for anything.

Rafael, in a rare moment of supervising his children, still makes sure to have a full glass of juice lest anyone mistake him for someone responsible. 

Taylor's birthday is getting close and she is woefully behind on her skills, so Faye chased her down to the basement (heaven knows why Taylor was going down there, but she did) to do flash cards. I still hadn't learned at this point that tablets are the way to go. :/ 

Eleanor: "Grandpa, can I please have a new toy?"
Andres: "My dear granddaughter, do you not think that since you are the one to carry on the family name and I am a grandparent that that would not be an easy request for me to fulfill?"
Eleanor: "Huh? Is that a yes?"
Andres: "Affirmative."

Bath pictures are the cutest. That is all. 

The girls are a lot better about messes than some children in other saves I have (looking at you, oldest daughter in unpublished save I'm working on before I write it up), partially because I keep them pretty busy, but they do occasionally slip through.

Rafael has finally slept five nights (that count) in a tent! Now he just has to max his herbalism skill, but I'm really close on that. 

Finally heard from my friend meadowthayer in a chapter of her Hayden Legacy that tablets are the way to go, so Taylor got a lot of last-minute skilling in this way. It feels kind of bad to me, since it isn't how I would choose to parent a real child, but on the other hand, I do like achieving things for that imaginary score I'm not keeping. Need to offset that -10 points from the youth potions, y'know.

When I first got Andres and Faye together, I wondered how an good/evil pairing would work. Surprisingly well overall, as they've made it this far, but their relationship is a rollercoaster. One minute they're all over each other . . . 

 . . . and the next minute Faye is insulting her husband for no apparent reason while Rafael makes more damn ice cream for everyone to eat instead of regular food. Eesh. Every so often Faye gets in a real snit and I have to do repair work on the relationship to keep it high, but overall, this bizarre couple works.

Rafael is happy because he maxed herbalism, earning the Survivalist trait, which is practically useless, but whatever. It was tough at the end because he had completely run out of insects, so he could only cook the lower-level ones that only require herbs. His next aspiration is Curator. 

Eileen's friend from the park, Dale, asked to come over, so they spent a nice afternoon chatting and playing together. I think I see a nice friendship/potential older relationship shaping up. 

Celeste: "Eleanor, why would you do this? You have shamed us all!"
Eleanor: "Mom? Why are you being so mean? You sound like Taylor."
Celeste: "Sorry, honey. It's this stupid work uniform of mine. I can't hear myself think. It's giving me a headache. Give me just a second."

Celeste: "That's better. Sorry for being rude, Ellie. Try not to make messes, 'kay?"
Eleanor: "You really ought to get promoted out of that outfit, Mom."
Celeste: "You're telling me."

Ha ha, Eileen is a little too enthusiastic about decimating Dale's untrained Voidcritter. 

Taylor's birthday went much better since there was only one toddler to grow up. She also received the trait for all 3-points skills.

Celeste: "There you go! Good job with the candles, Taylor. Time to grow up!"
Eileen: "I'm so proud of our little sis!"
Faye: "Hmm. I wonder who I should kill with a potion next."
Eleanor: "Oh no! This isn't good."

What's the matter?

Eleanor: "Is she going to be . . . *gasp* . . . prettier than me?"

 Well, if you keep doing that thing with your eyelids, it's a good possibility.

Eleanor: "Whew! False alarm."

Whatever. We already know she's nearly another clone of you two.

No. Jaron. Jaron, no.

Jaron: "What, can't a gentleman ask someone he fancies on a date?"

Not when it's your great-great-granddaughter's husband, no.

Almost a family dinner. There's enough chairs, but not enough brain cells. Also, note that Taylor is eating a Caesar salad. That's because she's a vegetarian. She also rolled Whiz Kid, so I guess she'll be competing with her archrival. 

Taylor's makeover. Green and flowers and a strawberry necklace may be a little on the nose for a vegetarian, but so what? She looks adorable.

And with that milestone down, we'll wrap up with some of my extremely well-dressed townies. When we come back, we'll see the Gregory girls continue to grow, whether Eleanor and Taylor will continue to be bitter rivals, Faye and Andres continue to be basically immortal thanks to my mess up, and various other goings-on. There will be at least one more full chapter before we get to pets, but the Gregorys did just adopt a little ball of floof in-game, so you have that to look forward to also. I'm hoping to get caught up soon. I know I always say that, so we'll see. In the meantime, check in with me at SiMania and Boolprop! Thanks for reading!