@Curveball Haha! It may even have been an "impeccable" hamburger cake, actually. Morris has the "Stoves and Grills Master" trait. Still, a hamburger cake is a hamburger cake.
I really like having portraits to memorialize everyone. They are definitely fun to look back on.
@Joria The food photos are Simstagram prints. They're of the experimental dishes Morris ate at Chez Llama, and part of the reason he was eating out constantly for awhile there. They're only worth $10 each, but I'm not really going for a high-value museum, just whatever is the most fun to collect or most appropriate to the character. These suited Morris perfectly.
@oshizu Thank you! Two down!
Yes, Mallory is waiting (somewhat impatiently) for Lucien to age up to young adult. He is taking his sweet time.
I love that outfit, too! That's really the only reason for that photo. I just think Mallory is the cutest.
Glad somebody got the sausage joke, even if it wasn't Betty.
Poor Rolando. He really just got added to the Upper Crusts to facilitate Morris becoming his friend, and look where it got him!
This next chapter is going to be a little unusual. It's pretty much all staged, and it took a lot of work to set it up, but I had a BLAST! I hope you all like it!
Chapter 18: Recon
Mallory: Going to work. Not feeling frustrated. Not thinking about Lucien. Shoot! Now I’m thinking about him.
Arianna: So, Travis, Isaias, either of you have any idea what happened to our new teapot?
Travis: Nope.
Isaias: No, Ma’am.
Arianna: Or the three teapots before that one that also mysteriously disappeared?
Travis: Um . . .
Isaias: No . . . ?
Arianna: Hmm. Either of you have any idea why neither one of you was ever a serious spousal candidate?
Travis: I should go.
Isaias: Yeah . . .
Mallory: Okay, another successful club meeting. Thanks, grandma.
Eduardo: This does not count as handiwork. I object.
Arianna: Morris! It’s time. Down a potion and come with me. We’re finally going to get a peek at what this Dynasty is all about.
Morris: Whoa!
Arianna: Huh.
Don: Yeah.
Arianna: It’s all . . . discombobulated.
Don: Yeah, I think each generation of builder got to pick their own architectural style.
Arianna: And they all went with “Crazy Haunted Recluse Chic?”
Morris: No, look. The third one is moreso “Satanic Disco.”
Arianna: I hate it. Did J grow up here? Where would you even put a bedroom in that mess?
Morris: Or a kitchen.
J: Nah, we have a summer house on the other side of the island where we spent most of our time. We only opened up The Estates here for parties and Secret Society meetings.
Arianna: Oh, sweetie! I didn’t know you’d be here!
J: Mmm. Good to see you, baby. You, too, Morris. Yeah, this is where I am pretty much all the time now, except for the odd brunch date and club meetings of course. Seems I’m more or less bound to the old place.
Arianna: Why didn’t you tell me? We should be having Sunset Gardens meetings 24/7!
J: I couldn’t. As it happens, the first rule of being bound to the Huntington Estates is that you can’t talk about the Huntington Estates. Well, unless you’re actually here. On the grounds, I can be all Chatty Cathy. It’s like the thing about saying “Macbeth” in a theater . . . except the exact opposite.
Arianna: Right. Kiss me!
Don: All right, all right you two! We’re burning up precious minutes here. Let’s get down to business.
Arianna: Killjoy.
Don: So right, up this hill you’ll find the front gates. Fairly simple. Nobody who isn’t a Huntington can get through, which is, obviously, why we needed J as our founder’s spouse. Arianna, you're not technically a Huntington, but you get a pass since you both married and produced one.
Arianna: Because of magical woo-woo reasons?
Don: Yes, and also because of magical woo-woo reasons the gate won’t open unless we have a critical mass of eight Huntingtons at once, so unfortunately that is as far as we go today. I can tell you a bit more about what’s waiting for you after that, and J can fill in some details, too, but the main reason behind the requirements you’ve all been fulfilling is so that you can be as prepared as possible for whatever is waiting for you inside the actual house.
Morris: Oh! It’s nice to know there was a point. I mean, I probably would have learned mixology anyway, it’s just fun, but the rest of it . . . meh.
Arianna: Really? You’re such a foodie. I thought you loved cooking.
Morris: Being a foodie means I love eating, Mom. Maxing cooking means I’m in charge of making meals for everyone until the end of eternity, and all you guys want to eat is fish tacos. If I make something fun like Rack of Lamb everyone just goes “Oh! The calories!” If it were up to me, I’d be eating out at Chez Llama every meal.
Don: Guys? Can we focus?
Arianna and Morris: Sorry.
Don: Okay, up the hill, please! Let's get a closer look.
Don: So inside the gates you’ve got your pretty standard hedge maze. Eight entrances, one for each of you, and I’m assuming the magical woo-woo is going to prevent more than one of you from going into each one. After this point, you’ll all be going solo. We can’t see much of the mazes, but it appears they’ll each be tailored to you individually. Arianna, you’ll notice of few cow plants poking up out of your section there.
Arianna: I hope I’m not required to keep them alive to get through the maze, because I’m terrible at that.
Don: I doubt it, but you should be prepared to be eaten once or twice. I want you and everyone else to pack plenty of moodlet solvers.
Arianna: Consider it done.
Don: Morris, I can see flames flickering in your section, which I imagine means there are some campfires, and there are definitely fish jumping up in Mallory’s section. There may be strobe lights going in Section Four, but it’s hard to tell.
Morris: Hmm. I hope my future grandson likes to party.
J: This is where I can help a bit. Should you make it through the maze, you’ll be rewarded with a door to your section of the actual house. The doors are tied to emotion, so you’ll need to be in the right mood to open them. You can prep your mood beforehand, but I’d suggest getting through the maze as quickly and cleanly as possible so that you’ll still be in the right frame of mind once you come out.
Don: Getting through the house itself is your main task, and it’s very important that every single one of you completes it because there’s a gate identical to this one in the backyard, and we need all eight of you, safe and healthy, to open it together to get to what’s on the other side.
Arianna: What’s on the other side?
Don: If all goes according to plan, we’ll find out together in about six more generations.
