Legacies of the Valley (March 9 -- Sheil) Graveyard

[MarianT]

Today, I used the Betancourts' links to read all of Jeffrey's updates, starting from his Stats on page 1.
The links really helped me focus on getting his life household's straight in my mind, amidst the other households.

Jeffrey seems to shoulder a heavy burden with his often depressed wife.
I really like how caring he is of her moods, despite escaping from their home now and then.
Most shots of little Gunther show him as frowning, hahaha. Hope that improves.
Vincent & Octavius rank among my favorites--how funny to hear Jeffrey describe them as the "bad neighbors."

Wendy is "depressed" because I aged her up too quickly from a toddler. Apparently if you do that, the Sim will sometimes get toddler moodlets. Wendy was a charmer as a toddler and so she almost permanently has a sad moodlet because there's no one around. Moral of the story: don't age your Sims up from toddler in CAS.

Vincent is a kleptomaniac and Octavius is a vampire -- great household, bad neighbors.

[PeregrineTook]

Darling Wendy.  I just have a soft spot for the Sim with depression.  And no, it's not just because she's a redhead.
Little Gunther's faces when he was being defiant and ornery were just great!!  Of course, it also made it that much more impactful when he was taking out the trash and being a good big brother later on. 
All in all, a very sweet update  :=)

[MarianT]

Chapter 32

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Amy sat down at the dining room table, her journal open in front of her. For a moment she couldn't think of anything to write about. But then the memories came flooding in.

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The really newsworthy item is that Paul got a gift of 30,000 simoleons from his grandmother Caroline. His grandfather Pierre won the lottery just before he died, and she wanted to share the wealth. Sadly, Caroline has since died herself. "Well, there goes my chance of getting more money," Paul grumbled when he read the news. "My parents are never going to open their pocketbooks for me. Dad doesn't approve of what I do, and Mom will want to spend it all on digs."

Incidentally, Paul has changed jobs. One critic said that his paintings came "too much from inside his head," and Paul decided that since he couldn't beat them, he'd join them. He makes much less as a critic, though, at least when he's first starting out.

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I've been moving up at work. In fact, one of my patients was Paul's mother, Abigail. I wasn't able to diagnose her, though. She'd picked up some exotic bug from her travels, and I'm still at basic starry eyes, bloaty head, and gas-and-giggles.

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Speaking of which, little Gunther Betancourt showed up with one of the worst cases of gas-and-giggles I've ever seen.
"The kids at school call me Grunt," he informed me.
"Okay, Grunt," I said.
"Ugh," he responded. "Get it? You said grunt, so I grunted." And then he started giggling. I hope it was the gas-and-giggles talking. Otherwise, his parents are in for a long childhood.

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Neither of my two are ready to become children yet, although they're growing up fast. Phillip loves going outside to run around the house.

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And Peter is getting almost too heavy to fly.

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They're both affectionate and imaginative.
 
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But I'll be happy when they grow out of the mess-making stage, especially because the cats tend to come along and make it worse.

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Hajar is becoming quite the young lady. She got a B at school the other day, and we're all very proud of her.

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I took her to the park as a reward. She met a fellow scout there, Hugo Villareal, and they did a special Scout handshake, which looks very complicated.

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Hajar's mother Salma has really been helpful, not just with cleaning, but also with the boys. Phillip didn't want to take a bath the other day, so she coaxed him into the wading pool instead, which helped clean him off a little bit.

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That just leaves the cats to discuss. Prissy and Macarthur don't spend a lot of time together, so I was happy to get a shot of both of them on top of the refrigerator. By the way, that's a new refrigerator in our new kitchen. We did some remodeling with the money Paul got from his grandmother.

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Paul loves cats, and is always happy to give them a cuddle when they meow at him.

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They act very strangely sometimes. Prissy was fascinated by the twins the other day. It was almost like she was hoping one of them would throw their food on the floor for her.

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I almost forgot -- Paul and I went out for a "date" on Love Day. We went to the library in Willow Creek, and he kissed me in the reading room. I was afraid someone might say something, but I guess as long as we didn't make any noise, it was okay.

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Something else I almost forgot -- Mom encountered a strange man at our door when she came over the other night. He was hissing and clawing at the air, so she hurried inside and locked the door behind her. She thinks he's the son of that wizard who married Tildy, the woman who inherited the old farm. It's all ancient history to me, but Mom takes an interest in it. "The wizard could behave very oddly sometimes," she concluded, "but nobody ever said anything about him hissing."

I guess that's about it until the next time I get a quiet moment.

Amy's journal continues in Chapter 42.

[PeregrineTook]

Hmmm...can't help but wonder if her mom was, or will be, turned...?

[MarianT]

Hmmm...can't help but wonder if her mom was, or will be, turned...?

Probably not. I have enough vampire characters at the moment.

[oshizu]

This household seems so happy and balanced. Somehow, I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop.
I was surprised by all the sick kids lined up at the hospital.
It must be weird for the watcher who has played most of their households, too.
Paul smooching Amy on Love Day in the library was cute.

[MarianT]

Chapter 33

These days, life has been undramatic at the Carpenter house.

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Robin continues to spend time at Demetrius's grave, tending the pear tree she planted there.

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But she also takes time to show Juliet some new dance moves.

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Evelyn has become a little more attentive as a mom.

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But she's also taken on a job outside the home and is learning how to mix drinks in preparation for it.

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Stephen continues to be the go-to guy for everything, taking Sooty to the vet...

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...giving T-rex rides...

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...and teaching Eloise and Juliet their numbers.

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He did take a day off work, and fortuitously it was the same day as GeekCon. He failed to win the Ultimate Gaming Test, but had a good time.

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Finally the day arrived that everyone had been waiting for -- the twins' birthday.

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It's a whole new ball game.

Stephen's story continues in Chapter 43.

[MarianT]

Chapter 34

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Valerie sat down at the kitchen table and began writing down her to-do list:
1. Have a child.
   A. Wish?
   B. Adopt?
2. Spar with two more vampires.
3. Help Vixenna become a top-notch toddler.

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She was interrupted by the sound of someone singing, "Wonder day, Wonder day, Wonderful all day!" It was a giant bunny, with a voice that was too high-pitched for a man and too low for a woman. "What's up, doc?" it greeted her.
Valerie soon found that the bunny was quite flirtatious. "Are you single?" she asked, and the bunny averred that it was. Valerie thought that perhaps she wouldn't mind letting a child of the bunny's go off to marry Vladislaus.

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She flirted as much as possible, even giving the bunny a big kiss (it smelled like lettuce), but the bunny wasn't interested in woo-hooing or trying for baby. Valerie bid it farewell, never knowing its gender.

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She spent the rest of the day with Gunther Rowley and Elliott Betancourt. Valerie had found that she preferred seducing gay men. It was more of a challenge, and their spouses were less likely to get upset. She set her sights on Elliott, who had beautiful red hair. But she couldn't seduce him in front of Gunther, and it was getting late.

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She went to work on her second goal then: moving up as a vampire. Caleb Vatore gave her some training.

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After that, she defeated him in a friendly sparring match. His sister Lilith was more difficult. Even after she increased her strength, Valerie still couldn't beat Lilith.

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She brought together a group of vampires (Vladislaus was not among them), and defeated the first one she sparred with. Crossing off her second goal, Valerie went home.

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Valerie tried the wishing well early the next day. It granted her wish, but not in the way she had wanted. Instead of providing a child immediately, it gave her a voucher with the adoption agency. Valerie didn't think she could bear to raise a baby or toddler, so opted for a child -- a little girl named Bridget who just happened to be fond of music.

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She tried to prepare Bridget for her future. "There's someone I'd like you to meet someday," she told her. "His name is Vladislaus and he loves music."
"I love music, too," Bridget said, looking so innocent and trusting that Valerie knew she couldn't send her off to Forgotten Hollow.

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Vladislaus had said he didn't want a redhead, so Valerie tried changing Bridget's hair color. Unfortunately, Bridget objected.

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"If people see me with red hair, they'll know I'm adopted," she said. "I want to have black hair like you and my little sister Vixenna." Valerie changed it back and hoped that Bridget would be more interested in changing her hair color when she became a teen. Teens were always dying their hair, right?

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Helping Vixenna grow up was next on Valerie's list. She spent several days encouraging her to talk and learn her numbers and play on the slide. But it seemed as if it was always raining in Willow Creek, so it was difficult to get Vixenna outside.

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One day the restaurateurs of Willow Creek announced that meals would be on the house. Valerie arranged to meet up with Elliott. They had a glass of wine together, and she told him that he would be a shame if the genes for his beautiful green eyes and auburn tresses weren't passed on to the next generation.

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Elliott agreed.

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The next day Valerie was able to give him the glad news that she was pregnant. "That's -- um -- great," he said. "Don't worry," said Valerie, "I plan to raise the little one myself."

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Meanwhile, Bridget was being difficult. Instead of learning the violin, she was making messes all over the house. Valerie didn't threaten her, but she resolved to remember Bridget's messes when the time came to say good-bye.

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She also got an activity table, so that Bridget could exercise her creativity with drawings and craft projects.

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The day came when Valerie could cross the third item off her to-do list: Vixenna was ready to become a child.

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Vixenna sat down almost immediately at the drawing table, and Valerie beamed.

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It was time to make up another to-do list. Achieving her goal of becoming a Grand Master vampire was at the top.

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And number two was making more money. Valerie had picked up $60 in tips the other night, but that didn't seem like much. Maybe painting would be more lucrative...

Valerie's story continues in Chapter 44.

[oshizu]

I hadn't expected Valerie to become a single parent of three children!
For some reason, I'd assumed that wishing-well kids always came with bad traits. Is that only the ghost babies?
(I've only ever used the well for promotions...)
Crossing my fingers that her child with Elliott is born a redhead, though Bridget the music lover seems like such a good match for Vlad.

[MarianT]

I hadn't expected Valerie to become a single parent of three children!
For some reason, I'd assumed that wishing-well kids always came with bad traits. Is that only the ghost babies?
(I've only ever used the well for promotions...)
Crossing my fingers that her child with Elliott is born a redhead, though Bridget the music lover seems like such a good match for Vlad.

Wishing well children can be evil or genius, I think. Valerie didn't get a wishing well child, though, but a voucher from the adoption agency, waiving her fee. Considering she gave the wishing well 5000 simoleons and the adoption fee is only 1000, she didn't come out ahead. Bridget's music lover trait was pure coincidence.

As for Valerie's being a single mother, when I first started playing her and she was pregnant, I noticed that she didn't have a problem with sunlight. I assumed that was because she was pregnant, but now I know it was only a bug. Anyway, I decided that she would have more pregnancies to keep her sunlight-immune.

[MarianT]

WATCHER'S DIARY: SUMMER, YEAR OF THE LLAMA

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

1st of Summer
Cloudy and warm in Willow Creek
Tildy promoted
2nd of Summer
Sunny and cool in Willow Creek
Active household: Harvey
3rd of Summer
Rainy and warm in Willow Creek
Brian promoted
4th of Summer
Rainy and warm in Willow Creek
Freedom Day
5th of Summer
Partly cloudy and warm in Willow Creek
6th of Summer
Sunny and warm in Willow Creek
Kathy promoted
7th of Summer
Cloudy and warm in Willow Creek
Neighborhood Brawl Day
Dmitri ages up
Sebastian promoted
8th of Summer
Cloudy and warm
Active household: Lewis
9th of Summer
Sunny and hot
10th of Summer
Sunny and hot
11th of Summer
Thunderstorm and warm
Jas promoted
12th of Summer
Sunny and hot
13th of Summer
Rainy and warm
Jas promoted
14th of Summer
Partly cloudy and warm
Saffron ages up
Summer Holiday
15th of Summer
Rainy and warm in Newcrest
Active household: Maldonado
16th of Summer
Cloudy and warm
17th of Summer
Sunny and hot
Madilyn promoted
18th of Summer
Partly cloudy and hot
19th of Summer
Sunny and heat wave
Shane ages up
Madilyn promoted
20th of Summer
Sunny and warm
21st of Summer
Sunny and hot
22nd of Summer
Cloudy and warm
23rd of Summer
Cloudy and hot in San Myshuno
Active household: Marsh
Octavius promoted
24th of Summer
Partly cloudy and warm
25th of Summer
Sunny and hot
Lottery Day
Vincent promoted
26th of Summer
Sunny and hot
27th of Summer
Cloudy and hot
Sheila ages up
Octavius promoted
28th of Summer
Sunny and warm

[MarianT]

Chapter 35

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Back at bad smells place. Ugh.

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Mistress and I walk around afterwards, but I don't get any good smells. I need a bath.

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There's a new small creature in the house.

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The small creatures are a dimmy and a reeny*.

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The reeny tries to fly like the dimmy.

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The reeny tries to swim like a fish. Is this something that only a reeny can do?

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No, the dimmy also swims, but at night.
 
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Fire! Fire! Old master is caught in fire, but mistress saves him with large pee spray.

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Old mistress, mistress, the reeny, and I escape outside, but where's the dimmy?

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Here he comes, carrying a small roof.

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Happy Freedom Day! But mistress is not happy. "Why no red, white, and blue banners?" she complains. "You'd think there would be some. England and France have the same colors, and Australia. And the Netherlands. It's not just us."

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At night, mistress takes us outside in the rain. "I hope this lights," she says.

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Fire again, but no one runs away. They just say "Oooo!"

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Later, mistress takes me to place of good smells, and I meet some rude seagulls. "Woof!" I tell them. "Fly away before I bite you!" But they just laugh. I don't like seagulls.

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In the morning, master and mistress sing to the dimmy.

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He grows taller, and is now a dim. "Happy birthday!" everyone says, and I bark.

*The Harvey children are named Dmitri and Irene.

Teeny's observations of the Harvey household continue in Chapter 45.

[oshizu]

I love the nicknames the Dimmy/Dim and the Reeny.
And how simply adorable--I'd yet to see a toddler with an umbrella until the Dimmy! (Hadn't even known it was possible...)

[MarianT]

I love the nicknames the Dimmy/Dim and the Reeny.
And how simply adorable--I'd yet to see a toddler with an umbrella until the Dimmy! (Hadn't even known it was possible...)

I thought it might be a bug, but then I saw another toddler with one (I guess it still could be a bug, though). They can't choose an umbrella, which means they're stuck with black.

[MarianT]

Chapter 36

More tips from Simkit the Cat:

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Not all human food is good for you. If you're allergic to onions, stay away from salads, no matter how temptingly placed on the floor.

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If you like drinking from puddles (and who doesn't?), toddler bathtime is a great opportunity.

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Meanwhile, Mayor Emeritus Ted Lewis has decided to keep his bundle of joy from Sixam, and Jas has been helping out.

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Sage (Saffron's younger sister) has become a little charmer.

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She seems to have a strong interest in gardening.

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Jas won the karaoke competition at Waterside Warble the other night.
 
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Lightning almost struck the house during the last thunderstorm. It was so intense that it transformed some dirt into the rare element Crytacoo.

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Happily, Summer Vacation Day had great weather, and Jas and Arthur were able to go swimming.

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Report from Agent 7734
I thought I'd brighten your  day by showing you my two adorable daughters decked out in their raincoats.

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As for news, Subject Gamma and her parents have decided to keep the former mayor's illegal alien child.

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They've disguised him and intend to claim that he's been adopted.

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Subject Gamma has also picked up the "present" sent by his pollinator parent.

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After several days of hard work, Subject Gamma has revealed her agenda in art form. One world, acceptance for all, that kind of stuff.

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Subject Gamma has been observed in contact with the brother of Big Bugsy Seagull's young aide, Vincent Marsh.

Instructions to Agent 7734
Good work! When the time comes we can mount an inquiry into the "adoption" papers for that little blue infiltrator. Good to know that Subject Gamma supports a global tolerance agenda -- it's easy to attack. I wouldn't worry about the Big Bugsy connection though. No one is shocked by corrupt politicians anymore.

Jas's story (and Simkit's tips) continues in Chapter 46.