The Gregory Legacy, Chapter 42

Hi again! Here we are with another Gregory chapter, with the girls creeping closer to adulthood all the time. Last chapter saw heiress Eleanor and her twin Eileen reach their teen years. Eleanor gained a boyfriend but Eileen struck out with her childhood crush (for now). We also adopted a bocker puppy named Nova (shown here spoiler-y as an adult), and Eleanor got a taste of the social media rush through Simstagramming her pup. By the way, in case you didn't know, as I didn't, a bocker is a cocker spaniel crossed with a beagle. I've had beagles and met cocker spaniels, and oof, that sounds like a cute but difficult to train hybrid. Luckily Nova has a pretty easygoing personality that doesn't seem to reflect what the internet (always trust random pages you Google, right?) tells me bockers are like. Anyway, no hate on hybrids as I have a whoodle (Wheaton terrier + poodle) who has the intelligence of a poodle and the stubbornness of a terrier, which can make him an adorable hot mess at times too. Enough hybrid dog shop talk, though. Let's check in with the Gregory family . . .

 Raphael: "Hey guys, just thought I'd sneak a drink when I'm supposed to be gardening and . . ."

Raphael: "Oh God, what is happening?"

*sounds of splashing and moaning*

Raphael: "I regret so much." 

Taylor: "Eleanor, is that your boyfriend? I thought your boyfriend was blond. Didn't you say he was blond? I thought you said that. How weird."
Eleanor: "Ha ha, what a crazy imagination on this kid. Can you believe it?"
Moshe: ". . ." 

Eleanor: "Can it and go inside, Tay. I'm trying to work my magic and I don't need you twerping up the place."
Taylor: "Oh, I'm sorry, am I cutting in to your cheating game?"

So that karaoke may not have solved all of the remaining rivalry between these two.

Luckily for Eleanor (but not for him), Moshe believed her version of events and decided to stay while they made friends.

Celeste: "Make friends? That's all, right? Cause I gotta go to work, but I worry . . ." 

Faye too worried, not about Eleanor's morals, but rather that people might be happy somewhere on the lot, so she picked this time to die.

(I'm being flippant but I was really broken up about this. She had a longer time than most, and I was flat-out mad when she became heiress, but I really grew to love her.) 

Of course, her death was a complete clusterf*** considering it was attended by two of Eleanor's potential future romantic interests in addition to Faye's devastated husband and granddaughter . . . and her other granddaughter who was still on a "he talked to me, *giggle*" high.

Moshe: "Hello Mrs. Gregory. I'd like to date your granddaughter. Mrs. Gregory, why aren't you answering me?"
Eleanor: "He's soooo cute when he's being disrespectful and dense!" 

Moshe: "Wait is this a . . . a death?"
Eleanor: *unintelligible wailing*
Grim: "What gave you that impression, kid?"

It also didn't help that Faye died in the doorway of the smallest bathroom on the lot, resulting in some disturbing routefails.

Nova: *deep butt sniff*
Faye: "Trolled ya!"

From the beyond, she's still getting the better of me.
  

 Grim: "Okay, boys, good luck with getting lucky now. Faye and Grim out!" *pats heads of the teens*
Taylor: "Why does everybody suck so much?"

Some were more broken up than others. 

Some were not broken up at all.

Rafael: "Hey guys, what'd I miss?"

Celeste was at work and so got no moodlet, but Raf and Eileen don't have a good excuse.

In Faye's memory Just because, we added a very bland laundry room in the basement. I still have not really mastered the flow of laundry in such a large house, but I do enjoy getting more decorative doohickeys. Eleanor, who was not sad despite witnessing the death of her grandmother and good friend due to overwhelming happy moodlets, ran the inaugural load of laundry.

And Celeste came home with a promotion to the top of the Art Critic career branch, meaning she maxed her career before her dad did. He hasn't been working his whole adult life, but he did still start before her. I was really hoping she would get a better outfit but she just got a slightly different recolor. Sigh. 

While I was playing with laundry and sighing about Celeste's outfit, Andres was checking the last note Faye had left him on the board (they had a routine) and bawling. Now I feel bad. 

He sought solace in the hug of his younger daughter, who at least could bring him some comfort. 

Eleanor even stopped sucking at being a good person and comforted Taylor. 

Still, these two were very sad and sought each other out as the only ones who really understood the gravity of the situation. 

Meanwhile, Eleanor was doting on, training, and photographing her puppy. 

And Eileen? Well . . . she was forgetting something.

Eileen: "Was it my pants again? I bet it was my pants again."

Dressed again, Eileen joins all the others for Taylor's teen birthday. Except . . . where is Eleanor?

Taylor: "I'm growing up now!"

Wait, Eleanor's not --

Eleanor: Sigh. Did you guys know Grandma totally died during my date? It was such a bummer.

Great timing to realize you're in mourning, Eleanor. The date moodlets finally wore off. 

Taylor: "Worst sister ever, and also this hair looks atrocious on me. At least I'm wearing green."
Eleanor: "Yay! Birthday! I'm the best sister ever!"
Everyone else: *takes off to cry*

Good birthday. Very festive. 

Taylor gets her makeover (although not her final one - I later changed her flowers to yellow for reasons that will become clear soon). She's absolutely bedecked in flowers. I am a very creative and also good outfit designer. Her new trait is hot-headed, and she wants to be Fabulously Wealthy, which is not very ambitious considering the Gregorys' overflowing coffers ($2 mil and counting) fulfill half of every aspiration step instantly. Hot-headed finally explains the rivalry she's had with Eleanor all this time, and it hearkens back to her grandfather, so that's nice.

Taylor: "I don't feel so good. I'm just so down."

You should eat some fruit. Vitamin C. That'll pep you up. 

Taylor: "Well, you did just drop a stack of forty or so of these forbidden mystery fruits in my inventory, so I guess I could try." 

Taylor: "AHHHH!" 

Taylor: "AIEEEEE!" 

Taylor: "OKAY! Seriously, stop doing this to me."

Those weren't a series of one transformation. Those were just some of the many transformations Taylor went through because my game kept crashing. I later found out that a mod I had to allow plantsims to wear normal hair was outdated, and once I took it out, this last one took. 

Unfortunately, that means Taylor is stuck with the fauxhawk. 

Or not . . .? Coming out of the mirror, she has her hair back. Apparently this is a bug where plantsims just flip flop back between their normal hair and the plantsim hair whenever they change clothes, load a zone, or plan outfits. Kind of annoying, but it's not like this is a realistic story, so I can roll with that. I changed her hair to green so that when it is working the way I want, she'll look the way I want. I also changed the flowers to yellow so they'd stand out more. 

While I'm fussing over Taylor (and repeatedly crashing the game) the family is going through the stages of acute grief. Andres especially has taken Faye's death very hard, which is to be expected since he gave up his whole life, including his planet, to be with her. Theirs was a love that spanned the universe and back and now they're separated.  

And on that very sad note, here is our ball of floof, being Simstagrammed for more followers. Priorities. We have them. 

Accordingly, Eleanor tries again for her date with Moshe, since the first one was cut short by Faye's demise. He's been home and back so he doesn't have a moodlet from witnessing death any more, so things are a go for Eleanor to woo him. This will be her second first kiss that she needs for her aspiration. 

Achieved! He took off immediately after so she didn't get to ask him to be her boyfriend.

I missed all the sparkles of Nova growing up, and she did so in the worst location possible for me to see what she actually looks like.

I'm not above crawling under a desk to take pictures of a dog (here or in real life, lol) so here is our bocker, Nova. She has a very sad look to her but that brown nose and her fluffy fur make her adorable to me. I guess it's kind of fitting that she would grow up a little melancholy in this house at this time. 

Andres is sustaining despite his mood by spending time with his family, which has always been his greatest joy. His aspiration may have said Bodybuilder, Master Chef, and now Fabulously Wealthy, but those have always been diversions from the things that truly matter to him. 

Oh my goodness, Nova is a back sleeper! Too cute! That's the only reason for this picture to be here! 

With Nova all grown up, it was time to get her checked out and fixed, so off they head to the vet. 

Mortimer is our vet, and he successfully spays Nova. 

Nova is not too sure about this cone of shame thing, but Eleanor Simstagrams her in it nonetheless and she gains followers. 

Then she hides under the couch, breaking my heart. 

Eleanor is sure to give Nova extra cuddles to reassure her. 

Then this random old guy decided to pick a fight with Eleanor for no apparent reason. Eleanor, the granddaughter of Faye the Terrible, knows how to give as good as she gets. 

With that out of the way, Nova is able to get her checkup and she gets a clean bill of health. Again, Mortimer is very caring and adept in his pink and white scrubs. 

Eleanor: "Excuse me, Nova. We'll go home as soon as I insult this guy a few more times for having the audacity to follow me around. Doesn't he know I'm a Gregory?!"
Random Guy: "I am making poor life decisions." 

Yay! We get to see Taylor's true appearance for the first time! I plan on having her stay like this since she's such an extreme compassionate eater that vegetarianism is no longer good enough for her. Now, to spare plants too, she will simply photosynthesize from here on out. 

And a quick save, exit, and return another time later, Taylor is back to the fauxhawk. I hope that mod gets updated soon because this is tiring. 

Got one of these. Might as well. Plus the aquarium I used to have here for some reason generated uncomfortable moodlets as though it were dirty, even though it wasn't and none of the fish were rotten. But it made the living room a very unpleasant people for sims to be. 

This is Cornflower, our new hedgehog. Creatively, she is named Cornflower because that is the dominant color in this room. I'm not so sure about the mesh. I think they could have done without the ridges around the eyes. 

Rafael (whose name I've been spelling wrong for the last few chapters but I'm not going to fix it because seriously, screw him): "Ahhh! What is that thing? Get it away from me!"

I'm kidding. Rafael loves Cornflower more than his own children. He is always fussing with her and he rolls whims to clean her cage (the most tedious part of owning a small mammal) all the time like some kind of unnatural freak. 

Apparently this is a pet-heavy chapter, because I found Eleanor cuddling with a still-upset Nova out in the garden. 

Rafael also has wanted to walk Nova since they adopted her, and now that she's eligible for it, he takes her on a walk and I realize that I've never even looked at her walking outfit, so it's totally silly.

Good walk, Raf?

Rafael: "Yeah, I think she really enjoyed it. Right, girl?"

Nova: "Zzzzz. . ."

I feel like sneezing every time I see Taylor do this animation.

Faye invited Celeste out on the town, but Celeste is a dutiful and caring daughter, so she invited her father too and took it upon herself to third-wheel it. 

She was . . . overly enthusiastic . . . about this, but I think Faye and Andres really appreciated her intervention nonetheless. 

Faye was sure to thank Celeste for bringing Andres. Why flirty Faye couldn't just invite him herself is a mystery, but maybe when passing over she lost her phone and can only remember a few numbers. 

I got the notification that Celeste was just about to have her birthday, so I had Andres whip up a cake really quickly in the café. We invited Rafael, and the Gregory Helpers showed up, plus a few family friends and associates like Mortimer and Jonathan Lima were there too. The girls were in school at the time, unfortunately. Still, Celeste had a very well-attended birthday with both of her parents once again. 

simRoxy: "I detest you. You were an awful choice except for your physical genetics."
Rafael: "Thanks, I am pretty great." 

Faye and Andres capped off the afternoon with a little foray into a nearby busy, but just like that, the situation ended and Faye was gone once again. 

Andres: "Farewell, my love. . ." 

She didn't go too far because Faye invited Celeste out again that evening, confirming that Celeste's number is the only one she knows. This time she invited her to the karaoke bar. 

They couldn't sing together or do anything interesting, so Celeste told her mom one of her signature dramatic stories and called it a night. It was nice to have some visits from Faye, though. 

That leaves our buff and capable heiress as the reigning lady of the house for now, at least until Eleanor comes into her own. Celeste is very grounded, so she can shoulder the legacy capably for now.

Celeste: "Gasp! Grandma Laurel was right! The fairies ARE real!"

Or not.

While the adults were off gallivanting around town, the girls were being productive. Taylor was figuring out high school homework on her own. 

And Eleanor was giving Nova a bath. Eleanor was desperate to work more on her aspiration, so off it was on another date. I did something kind of questionable and formed a club of teen boys that I never intended to have meet just to get them in Eleanor's contacts. This is how she keeps having teen boys to invite over. 

She took Sullivan here to the bowling alley, but they never actually made it inside. 

Instead, Sullivan is giving up that first kiss rather quickly. This completes this stage of Eleanor's aspiration.

And then they're boyfriend and girlfriend. 

Eleanor: "Great, thanks, Sully. Have fun bowling. I'm off on some more dates."
Sullivan: "Wait, what?"

She meets up with Moshe again to get that boyfriend status. 

And, again, achieved! Eleanor is chipping away at this aspiration surely and steadily. 

Buoyed from her day of romance, Eleanor works on training Nova a bit. Surely a dog doing tricks will get some more hits on Simstagram. 

Kori: "I'm so proud of you, great-granddaughter. You're achieving things, even if they are questionable at times, and you're being a good carer for your first dependent. You, Laurel, on the other hand, are being a creeper, peeping in the window like that."
Laurel: "The fairies can't get me out here!"

My ghosts are so weird. 

With her dog fully locked and loaded, Eleanor is ready to take on any fairy threat to Gregory Manor and its residents. Well, we've meandered for most of this chapter. It's time to make something happen. Taylor has an idea so she gives her sisters itineraries and packing lists and off they head bright and early the next morning. 

Taylor: "Okay, looks like the weather's clear for our first day of adventuring and . . . God, Eleanor, what are you wearing?"
Eleanor: "You said to dress for the jungle."
Taylor: "Yeah, like us, long pants and boots."
Eleanor: "I'm wearing boots."
Taylor: "You're wearing high top sneakers."
Eleanor: "Same diff."
Taylor: "Ugh."

This should be fun! Yet this is just a teaser, because we have reached the end of the chapter, and it's time to wrap up. Next chapter we'll have some fun in Selvadorada and see some sisterly bonding time that will maybe end this feud once and for all . . . or exacerbate it. Who knows with these ladies? Be sure to check back soon for more Gregory fun, and check in with me at Boolprop in the mean time. Thanks for reading!