The Middlemiss Random Legacy (Completed)

[Beks]

Introduction

Hello hello, and welcome to the Middlemiss Random Legacy! And also my first story posted on this forum. I've read the stories here from the golden age of TS3 and I've been dying to post something of my own, even though I'm a few years late. So...here we are.

I’m following the “revised” Random Legacy Challenge rules (very similar to the classic rules, but with some updates for 2018), found here: http://randomlegacychallenge.blogspot.com/p/blog-page.html.

I have Ambitions, Late Night, Seasons, Generations, and World Adventures installed, and I'm not playing with any mods. Update: As of Chapter 6, I am playing with NRaas Story Progression and Master Controller.

I'm using this random generator app thingy to do my rolls for me: http://randomlegacychallengeapp.weebly.com

Also, I decided to have a little fun with the names in this challenge. I created a list of names combining results from a Victorian name generator and a Hillbilly name generator, and used a random number generator to select my founder's name from that list. I intend to use the same method to pick future heirs' names. The family's last name, Middlemiss, came up in the Victorian name generator, and I liked it, so I'm going with it. (I strongly considered using the name “Askew” instead, because, well, it fits the challenge, but I just liked Middlemiss too much to pass it up.)

The name generators I used can be found here: http://www.fantasynamegenerators.com. It's a fantastic and hilarious resource that I highly recommend if you ever need a name for something. I don't know how accurate the names from various cultures are (they're probably hit or miss)...but the site is a lot of fun, if nothing else.

Chapter Links

Generation 1
Chapter 1 – Odile With It
Chapter 2 – Love & Garbage
Chapter 3 – A Wedding To Clap For
Chapter 4 – Bunnies
Chapter 5 – Dolls & Hillbillies
Chapter 6 – A New Normal
Chapter 7 – Inferno
Chapter 8 – Hauntings
Chapter 9 – Frogs & Potions

Generation 2
Chapter 10 – Love in the Snow
Chapter 11 – Pavement Pounding
Chapter 12 – Fallen Angels, Sprouting Herbs
Chapter 13 – At Your Leisure
Chapter 14 – IPTA
Chapter 15 – Toy Meets Toy
Chapter 16 – Star Search

Generation 3
Chapter 17 – Imaginary, Immutable, Intergalactic Love
Chapter 18 – Blues on Tattoosday
Chapter 19 – Lewobblin'
Chapter 20 – Life & Not Death
Chapter 21 – Golden Years
Chapter 22 – Sunset Over Twinbrook

Generation 4
Chapter 23 – Sunrise Over Riverview
Chapter 24 – Getting Lucky
Chapter 25 – Long-Expected & Unexpected
Chapter 26 – A Fruit, A Composer, & A Small Appendage
Chapter 27 – Out of Luck
Chapter 28 – Red Hair, Brown Hair, New Hair, Blue Hair
Chapter 29 – The Three Musketeenagers

Generation 5
Chapter 30 – Flight of the Peach
Chapter 31 – The Firefighter & The Pink Party
Chapter 32 – Flames & Babes
Chapter 33 – Doll's Heads
Chapter 34 – Ribbons & Chopsticks
Chapter 35 – A Grim Mistake
Chapter 36 – Grandfathers & Gran Parties

Generation 6
Chapter 37 – Villain & Villainess
Chapter 38 – An Empire Is Born
Chapter 39 – Welcome, My Pupil
Chapter 40 – Joyride
Chapter 41 – Feed the Yak
Chapter 42 – The Middlemiss Bachelorettes
Chapter 43 – With Fish As My Witness
Chapter 44 – Dances, Clones, & Two-and-a-Half Heads

Generation 7
Chapter 45 – The Farmhouse In The Middle Of Nowhere
Chapter 46 – Calming & Ordinary
Chapter 47 – Fawns Are Nocturnal
Chapter 48 – The King & The Fisherman
Chapter 49 – Party Like It's Chapter 49
Chapter 50 – Finally Moving

Generation 8
Chapter 51 – Love At All Levels
Chapter 52 – Stealing Hearts & Nothing Else
Chapter 53 – Pickle
Chapter 54 – Learn All The Things
Chapter 55 – But Was The Tea Worth It?
A Brief Interlude / Author's Note Type Thing
Chapter 56 – Inferno: Part II
Chapter 57 – Playground Promises
Chapter 58 – Cops & Robbers

Generation 9
Chapter 59 – Poison Apple & The Butterfly Dome
Chapter 60 – Struck
Chapter 61 – MMTFT
Chapter 62 – The Sparkly Blue Ship Has Sailed
Chapter 63 – The Lucky One
Chapter 64 – A Puff of Smoke
Chapter 65 – Pajama Pact
Chapter 66 – The Final Hunt
Chapter 67 – Two Weddings and a Vampire Silo

Generation 10
Chapter 68 – Falling Into Place
Chapter 69 – Skylie
Chapter 70 – Démodé
Chapter 71 – Two & Three
Chapter 72 – Beach Drama
Chapter 73 – Sandbox Mode
Chapter 74 – The Festival of Nothing
Chapter 75 – Bubbles & Bake Sales
Chapter 76 – The Missing
Chapter 77 – Encrypted Love
Chapter 78 – The Cusp Of Greatness
Chapter 79 – The End

Epilogue
The Beginning

[Beks]

Chapter 1 – Odile With It

Our story begins in Twinbrook. I chose Twinbrook because it’s the town I’ve played in the least. I’m not very familiar with the townies here, so I figured it would be more “random”, in a way. Or at least I can’t be quite as strategic about spouses as I would be in Sunset Valley.

It’s time to roll for Generation 1. I’m nervous. All I’ve decided is that my founder is a lady. Everything else is up to chance. Here we go.

Name: Odile Middlemiss
Family Structure – Couple
Number of Children – 2
First Career – Author
Second Career – Dumpster Diver
Generational Goal – Perfectionist
Miscellaneous Fun – Gourmet

Thank God! This seems very doable. So Odile, our lovely founder, needs to find a spouse, and have two children. She will be an Author; her spouse will be a Dumpster Diver. Odile will also need to perfect (a.k.a. supermax) one skill. Naturally, that’s gonna be writing. And finally, Odile’s favorite food will need to be random, and one of the adults in the house will need to cook everyone’s favorite food at least once. Easy.

It’s time to introduce you to our founder. This is Odile Middlemiss.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Traits: Bookworm, Perfectionist, Couch Potato, Neurotic, Good Sense of Humor
LTW: Professional Author
Favorites: Veggie Burger, French, Red

Odile picks a spacious but cozy lot on Sweetwater Loop, right between the Castors and the Greenwoods. It is big enough to build a nice home on, but not so huge as to be overwhelming.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Okay, I took way too long to build this house. I also made it unnecessarily huge. I guess this lot is bigger than I thought? I thought I was making a smallish box, but I ended up making a hugeish box. To make matters worse, I spent half the household funds on pretty wallpapers and floors. Whoopsie doodle. I barely had enough money left over to put in the essentials, plus a computer (which I only remembered at the last minute). At least there’s plenty of room to dance to the stereo we might have one day.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

This might be a good time to mention that I don't consider myself to be an expert builder, or anywhere close. I tend to keep things fairly simple. As I get further along in the challenge, I'd like to make the house more elaborate and aesthetically pleasing, but for a while it's going to be a box. Just so ya know.

Ya like that door, Odile? Yeah, I thought you might.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

First things first. Odile is going to be a writer, as per the Income roll. Since we have approximately forty simoleons left at the moment, it's time to get cracking. Odile sits down at her late-1990s IBM and starts her very first novel. (I’m also using generators from Fantasy Name Generators for the book titles––some titles will come from the, ahem, Book Title generator, while others will come from generators yet to be determined.) Novel number one is called Rat of Rainbows.

Did I seriously not take a screenshot of Odile at her computer? Apparently not. I will be better about screenshots next time, I promise.

Odile writes until she gets nice and stressed, and reaches Level 1 of the writing skill. Then I remember that she needs to join the Writer career. Off to City Hall we go. Maybe we can even meet some people while we’re out? Odile doesn’t know a soul in Twinbrook, and she needs to find a spouse before long.

After completing her employment paperwork, Odile spots a handsome young bloke from across the park. It’s Justin Kayes! (Okay, I’m not totally unfamiliar with the Twinbrook townies. I know that I like Justin Kayes.) Odile runs over and introduces herself.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

As they’re talking, Wei Keane, Justin’s roommate, dumpster dives in the background. Hmmm…we DO need a spouse who’s willing to dumpster dive for a living…

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Odile meets a few other townies—men specifically—and then heads home to make herself some mac and cheese for dinner.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

She’s got a long way to go before she’s able to cook her favorite food, Veggie Burgers. Like, for real…she burns her first meal. The Autumn Salad turns out slightly better.

Odile spends most of the next day working on Rat of Rainbows. She also creates an online dating profile. And, by the end of the day, she finishes her first novel…which is a Best Seller?!

I think I underestimated this Perfectionist trait.

On Tuesday, Odile goes to visit Lincoln Baker. They met that first night by the grocery store. Odile decides to head over and chat with him. Or, I decide to send her over there, for no particular reason. None at all.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

What's that you're thinkin', Lincoln? Hmmmmmm?

The Baker’s front door is set, for some reason, to the garage / laundry room door. Classy. It’s a very nice house, though. Lincoln meets Odile at said front door and invites her in to chat by the washer and dryer. By the end of the evening, they are friends, but nothing more.

On Wednesday, we’re in dire straits—the bills are due, and we don’t quite have enough to pay them. Odile is going to have to write until her bum is numb in order to keep the lights on. She starts her first Humor novel (I guess she unlocks it early because of her Good Sense of Humor trait). It’s called Gods & Butchers.

Odile writes all afternoon and into the evening, but she doesn’t submit any chapters. We only needed, like, two of those mini-payments, and she gets nothing. Time to move things along. Odile calls Lincoln and invites him over.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

A couple hours later, the two have become good friends, and Odile asks Lincoln to move in. He agrees. He gets a bit of a makeover—grows his hair out, realizes he actually has 20/20 vision and doesn’t really need the glasses. He’s really not bad looking—his eyes are especially lovely. Hopefully he’ll pass those on to the next genera…wait, what? Is THAT why he moved in with us??

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Lincoln’s traits, by the way, are Good Sense of Humor, Flirty, Commitment Issues, Green Thumb, and Friendly. His traits are essentially why I picked him––mainly the Green Thumb trait, which will help with the four times he'll have to cook favorite meals for his family members. He won't be able to sell any of the things he grows, unfortunately, but at least he can cook with them. I also like that he has a Good Sense of Humor, like Odile. And Friendly is always a nice trait. All in all, he'll do.

Lincoln brings in more than enough funds to pay the bills and buy a washer and dryer. He also purchases himself a bed to sleep in. I’m not anticipating an immediate marriage in this case. Lincoln has Commitment Issues, which I’m not super familiar with, but I do know that it’ll take some work to convince him to settle down and start a family. But I’m confident that it can be done. We’ll bribe him with a nice garden or something.

And that’s it for now. We’re off to a slightly wobbly but okay start. Next time we’ll see if Odile can manage to woo Lincoln, and if Lincoln can manage to woo some valuable goods out of the Twinbrook dumpsters. We will also see more screenshots, because those are, in fact, important. Toodle-oo!

[Beks]

Chapter 2 – Love & Garbage

You know how I said last time that Lincoln brought in enough funds to pay the bills? So like, it turns out that you have to actually remember to pay the bills in order for that to apply. And I did not remember. So, on his first morning in the Middlemiss household, Lincoln wakes up to a lovely surprise––the repoman! (Whose name is Ree Treave. I love it.)

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Ree sucks the bathroom mirror into his suction thingy and runs off. I replace it immediately, because we have money now. Aside from a bad moodlet, no real harm has been done.

Lincoln calls in and quits his job. He’s no longer allowed to make money through the Science career. Congrats, Lincoln! You’re a dumpster diver now!

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Odile wakes up and settles herself at the computer for a long day of writing, while Lincoln heads out to dive into his first dumpster. He mostly just finds gems and a cheapo dining room chair. It's a start, I guess.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

That afternoon, there’s a pool party at Lincoln’s family’s house. He showers quickly at the gym, which is close by, then zips over to the party. He is very happy to see his mum again. Awww.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

While they’re talking, the option to “throw a peace sign” comes up in Lincoln’s interactions. Say what?! I check Lincoln’s info and, yep, he went to the School of Peace and Love, apparently. I haven’t sent many of my sims to boarding school, so I’ve never seen this before. It’s pretty sweet.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Lincoln heads to the backyard and jumps in the pool. I try to get him to splash his younger brother, Newton, but some sort of routing issue prevents him from, you know, getting around a certain patch of water to get to that other patch of water. Or something. Orrr, could it be because Newton and Lincoln are enemies?! Lincoln gets a negative “Enemy!” moodlet just being near his brother. This is new information for me. I’m learning so much about Lincoln’s background at this pool party!

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

At some point, Newton sneaks over and splashes his brother—no routing issues there. I still can’t get Lincoln to splash him back, though. Maybe Newton has the upper hand in this loving brotherly relationship. Oh, well. I send Lincoln home soon after that—but not before he gains his first celebrity star, somehow.

Back at home, it’s time for Lincoln to start learning to cook. He attempts to make his favorite food—mac and cheese.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

The key word here, of course, is "attempts".

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

The next day’s work is far more successful for Lincoln—he finds several hundred dollars’ worth of discarded furniture. But it’s also far more traumatic for him. He seems to realize, for the first time, how disgusting this work actually is.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

After tackling both dumpsters behind the restaurant downtown, Lincoln heads to none other than his mother’s house to rummage in his childhood garbage can. I love his face when he looks around to see if anyone’s watching.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

“Newton, if you sneak up on me, you’re gonna get more than just garbage thrown in your face!”

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

After vomiting into the hydrangeas, Lincoln heads home, where Odile is sloooowly working her way through her second book. Yes, it’s still Gods & Butchers.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

So, I’ve been dillydallying when it comes to the romantic side of things. While I’ve been perfectly content to force two sims to fall in love many times in the past, for some reason I feel weird about it this time around. I always prefer it when sims fall in love of their own accord. However, that doesn’t seem to be happening at all here. Odile and Lincoln weren’t instantly attracted to each other when they met. I neglected to have Odile ask Lincoln for his sign before he moved in, and now the option doesn’t come up for either of them, so I can’t see if they’re compatible in that regard. I’ve been hoping that one of them will roll a wish to do a romantic interaction with the other, but so far, I’ve been disappointed. It’s almost one week into the challenge, though, and while there’s certainly no rush to have babies…I’m kind of in a rush to have babies. For my own personal fun factor.

So I start pushing things forward a little bit. I have Lincoln tell Odile a dirty joke—that interaction is available under his “Flirty” trait interactions. She thinks it’s amusing, but that’s about it. Sigh.

But then! Aha! Lincoln rolls a wish to give Odile a gift. It’s not exactly romantic, but it’s something. I look through his inventory and he happens to be carrying a pretty rare book (and one worth something like 1k)—The Legend of Queen Nosylla and King Nayr. He gives it to Odile. Of course she loves it, because it’s a book.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Then, I take things a step further and have Lincoln give Odile flowers.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Theeeere we go.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

There’s that flirty face I know you’ve been hiding somewhere, Lincoln!

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

I let things play out naturally for a while. The two of them do a mix of flirty, friendly, and funny interactions. Not quite what I was hoping for, but at least they’re good friends who feel comfortable throwing some flirtatious jokes around. We’ll see how things go tomorrow.

The next morning, Odile decides to go in for the kill, so to speak. She flirts with Lincoln. Several times. He reciprocates by giving her an amazing massage, and at last! They start rolling wishes to go on dates with each other. Fiiinally.

They head out to brunch at the Boxcar Diner. They have their first kiss afterwards.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Allistair Pine, who’s become a paparazzi, decides that the girl making out with Lincoln Baker is pretty hot. (Back off, dude. Just because you’re a random guy hitting on a legacy founder doesn’t mean you’re worthy of getting with a random legacy founder.)

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Then Odile officially asks him out (right as Lincoln’s mother walks by), and they’re a couple. Zing zang zap.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

At home that night, after cleaning all the filthy appliances around the place and starting a load of laundry...

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

...and after Lincoln does a round of trash rummaging, Odile finishes what she began at the diner. At least, she tries. Both parties have to stop mid-wooing in order to shake water out of their ears (in Odile’s case…how she got soaked just from doing laundry is beyond me) and/or throw up (in poor Lincoln’s case). But after that’s out of the way, Odile kneels down in her puddle of laundry water and asks Lincoln to marry her.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

And…amazingly, he says yes!

I actually forgot about the whole Commitment Issues thing. I just went about things like I normally do. It probably helped that Odile and Lincoln were best friends before they were lovers. Other than that, I have no idea how it went over so smoothly.

Next time, it's wedding time. Until then, toodle-oo!

[Beks]

Chapter 3 – A Wedding To Clap For

The next day, Sunday, is the wedding day. Lincoln finally gets around to starting a garden—just a tiny one for now.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Odile puts on her pretty white dress and freaks out. That’s what you do on your wedding day, right? It’s certainly what I’m going to do on mine…

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

I’ve added some flora to the lot to make it prettier. It’s the first day of fall, so everything is tinged with red and gold—absolutely lovely.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

The guests arrive in midafternoon. The guests are mostly men, since Odile only really knows men. Many of them were potential spouses at one point. The rest of the guests are people Lincoln knows, and of course his mother. (I don't think Newton showed up at all.)

The dancing starts up right away. Odile dances with Goodwin Goode, whom she met online but never in person until now. He was a contender for a spouse until he turned into a vampire. They would make some pretty beautiful babies together…

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

The young’uns, Shark Racket and Jade Greenwood, are entranced by the mixologist Lincoln hired. She really knows her stuff.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Odile and Lincoln meet under the arch as the sun sets and dusk gathers under the trees.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Apparently I put the chairs for the audience too close together, so only like three people can sit down, but the others seem content to stand around and weep, as is appropriate.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Presenting Mr. and Mrs. Middlemiss! Awwww.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Afterwards, Odile cuts the cake and the guests begin to trickle out.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

This is the point at which Lincoln starts showing signs of stress over the fact that he’s married. He’s not Neurotic like Odile is, so he doesn’t officially freak out, but he does a very freak-out-like action autonomously several times throughout the evening. Also, instead of taking a slice of cake, he heads straight for the bar and makes himself a drink.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Take it easy there, Lincoln. It’s going to be okay.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

I didn’t get a screenshot of this, but Odile spends a little time getting to know her new mother-in-law, which is sweet. Mary Baker has a Good Sense of Humor as well, so they get along swimmingly.

Odile eventually sees her husband imbibing at the bar and comes over to comfort him. She assures him that he made the right choice in saying yes.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Then she (autonomously!) gets frisky with her new hubby, and they head to the bedroom that they now share.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Now that's a man (and woman) in love. I hope.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

It’s late. The guests have dispersed except for the mixologist, who has made herself at home and is using the Middlemiss family computer to check her email.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Oh, and Marc Brandt, who is this particular wedding’s Guest Stuck Clapping For Eternity. It's not a Sims 3 wedding without one.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Maybe he’s applauding for the pieces of cake lying uneaten on the grass? We’ll never know.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Normally I use resetsim to, well, reset whatever sim is stuck clapping at the end of a wedding, but this time I decide to let the glitch run its course. Maybe we’ll have an undying, unaged, perfectly preserved Marc Brandt applauding the family’s every accomplishment in the front yard for the rest of the challenge. Wouldn’t that be beautiful? I certainly wouldn’t mind. I don't know why people say everyone in Twinbrook is ugly. Mm-mm.

Alas, Marc only claps until dawn, when he pees himself. Then he starts cheering again as the rising sun casts a golden glow on the green of his armpit stank.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Finally, he announces that it’s time to go home and takes off into the sunrise.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Bye, Marc! I’ll miss you

[hazelnut]

This looks like a fascinating challenge.  I've seen a few random legacy rule sets before but this is much better (and nearly as mad as the Apocalypse Challenge).  *Adds to Sims 3 'to do' list.*

I was going to suggest getting their relationship high first and then making Lincoln propose - with trips to City Hall to change surnames as appropriate - but it seems to have worked out fine anyway.  Congratulations to the new Mr and Mrs Middlemiss!

Reallly enjoying this so far.  Good luck with the remaining nine generations!

[Beks]

Thanks so much, hazelnut! I actually considered doing the Apocalypse Challenge, but it's soooo incredibly complicated...this seemed much more doable, and also more fun. I hope you do give it a try sometime!

I didn't even consider having Lincoln do the proposing, for some reason––I guess because Odile is the founder, I figured it should be her doing the asking. Having Lincoln do it would've been smart, though. Noted for future sims with Commitment Issues!

[Beks]

Chapter 4 – Bunnies

Odile doesn’t feel well. She spends the day after her wedding intermittently writing her book and throwing up. Actually, the first time she feels nauseous, she runs outside instead of to the bathroom—and has one of her freak-outs, which cures the nauseous moodlet. She doesn’t even have to vomit. Weeeird.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

A few hours later, she runs outside again and throws up for real. Must’ve been a glitch.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

We all know what this means, but Odile has no idea. She keeps anxiously banging away at her keyboard while Lincoln makes his dumpster rounds. (Lincoln finds a hunk of mummitonium in the junkyard dumpster today. Um, wow.)

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

That night, Odile can’t sleep. She climbs out of bed whilst Lincoln dreams of divorce next to her.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

And…surprise, surprise!

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Odile immediately rolls a wish to have a boy. Lincoln, still unconscious, decides he’d prefer a girl. I myself am hoping for a boy (I have a great list of boy names I can’t wait to dig into). However, this is in fact a Random Legacy, so naturally I have no control. *crosses fingers*

Odile spends the next couple of days preparing for motherhood. She goes to the spa, then heads to the library to read up on pregnancy. Lincoln joins her there and reads a cooking skill book, because it’s about time we got past normal quality mac and cheese, thank you. (I don’t even have to eat it, and for some reason I care.)

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Odile swells up quite beautifully. Lincoln sells some salvaged furniture and gems and I’m able to add a little living room area to the house, and also buy a crib.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

I never get tired of these interactions. They’re just so sweet.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

I think Lincoln is going to make a good father. Time to work through your commitment issues, ma friend.

Sidenote: Just after feeling his wife’s tummy, Lincoln rolls a wish to join the Education career. That caught me off guard. Or maybe it’s fairly common for a sim to wish that after encountering a pregnant woman. In any case, it’s not going to happen, unfortunately. Maybe next generation…

We need to pause the story for a second. This is the new maid. Her name is Anne T. Septik, she wears knee-high stockings and protective glasses, and she is here to clean your toilet. Watch. Out.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Well, turns out she’s pretty good at her job. She discovers an old slice of wedding cake that was hiding behind the house and has been rotting there since the wedding. I wonder how long that would’ve stayed there with just me on cleanup duty...

That evening, Lincoln burns dinner twice in a row. He switches to veggi rolls, which don’t require use of scary things like stoves, and does better. I think he's at Level 5 of the cooking skill by now? What's the problem, man? (Although really, I feel like none of my sims start cooking decent food until level 7 or 8 of the skill. Which is stupid. I could rant about this all day, but I won't.)

It’s after 10 pm when Odile finally gets around to going into labor. (She took a shower shortly before this and was a victim of the post-shower-makeover glitch, which blessed her with octopus hair and clacky high heels. At least she got to keep her socks.) Since it’s so late in the day, I have Lincoln take her to the hospital in hopes that it will speed things up.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

FASHUN.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

I wait very anxiously after the Middlemisses disappear into the hospital. They go in just after 11 pm, and I’m hoping they’ll be done before midnight so we skip a day of infancy. I’m also still holding out hope for a boy.

And...NOPE! I get neither of my wishes. A baby girl is born at 12:02 am. Time to roll a name! Yippee!

I end up rolling one of the least repugnant names on the list: Roberta. Honestly, I don't mind this name at all. I was hoping for something really wacky, but oh well. Roberta it is. I also roll traits for her, at least initially. She gets Neurotic and Heavy Sleeper. I decide to keep Neurotic, since she inherited it from her mother, but I replace the other trait with Genius, for no reason in particular.

Some further facts about Roberta Middlemiss: While the popup with her name didn’t appear until after midnight, she was apparently really born the day before, as I’d hoped! She’s already a whole day into her infancy by the time she gets home from the hospital. Phew! Also, her favorite food (which is important because of the Gourmet requirement) is Frogs Legs. Which means a trip to China is on the horizon, sometime before she becomes a Young Adult. Finally, Roberta likes Indie and Turquoise, and she’s cute as a freaking button.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

I know all nooboos look the same, but like, LOOK at her. There’s something particularly cute about this little pink bunny bundle.

The next day is Spooky Day, and Odile gets invited to a costume party at DeAndre Wolfe’s house. She heads down into the basement and WOW?? There are windows looking into DeAndre’s pool?!??? It’s amazing. It’s absolutely amazing. I’ve never seen anything like it. (Of course I forgot to get a screenshot, I was so flabbergasted.) This game was created almost a decade ago, and I’m still discovering the wonders it holds. Anyways, here’s a picture of Odile dressed as a bunny signing an autograph for a very excited hot dog. (She and Lincoln are both four-star celebrities now, mostly just from dating, engaging, and marrying each other.)

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Roberta’s baby days pass quickly and without any hiccups. (Wouldn’t it be cute if nooboos actually hiccuped, though?) With a little prompting, Lincoln and Odile are good parents. Lincoln in particular makes the cutest little cooing sounds when he’s playing with the baby. I’m excited to see how both of them take on the challenge of toddlerdom.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Saturday is Roberta’s toddler birthday—and, incidentally, Lincoln’s adult birthday. A cake magically appears overnight on the kitchen counter, and when everyone is awake, it’s time to see some sparkles.

Look at this cutie! She’s absolutely adorable, and looks to be a lovely combination of her parents.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Lincoln starts on the potty training right away.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

It looks like the bunny costume thing might have rubbed off on Roberta a little bit. (On a side note, that bunny toy looks TERRified.)

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

And now, enjoy some toddler spam.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Roberta gets an Imaginary Friend in the mail, and it's even more imaginary than usual...

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

That night, Lincoln ages up in the middle of eating his nightly bowl of mac and cheese. (We’re up to nice quality now, by the way. Getting there…) Lincoln promptly falls into a Mid-Life Crisis after aging up.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

The next day, Odile rolls a wish to have another child. At almost the exact same moment, Lincoln rolls a wish to divorce Odile. I chalk it up to the Mid-Life Crisis and not his commitment issues. He’s been perfectly happy up till now—hasn’t even rolled a wish to flirt with someone else. Just sit tight for about thirty more years, Lincoln, and this will be over before you know it!

Lincoln does roll a couple of helpful wishes, though. He wishes to work out until fatigued, and with just a few hours on a treadmill he slims down quite a bit. He also wishes to plan a new outfit. He comes out looking pretty snazzy for a middle-aged guy with two kids.

Wait, two kids? Is that what I said??

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

I'll have to show you all Lincoln's mini-makeover next time. Along with some more toddler spam. Toodles!

[Beks]

Chapter 5 – Dolls & Hillbillies

Odile is up to level 6 of the writing skill and is hard at work on her fourth novel, another humor one called Dolls & Robots. Her last book, a biography of Bill Racket that she wrote for an opportunity, was titled You’re Making Quite a Bill Racket. Since switching to pregnancy clothes this time around, Odile has insisted on typing while wearing gloves. I know it’s cold out, girl, but it’s not THAT cold.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

The good thing is that, with her Perfectionist and Bookworm traits, Odile consistently writes good books that sell well. She’s already made a few thousand dollars altogether, and that’s only going to grow the more she publishes. Hopefully she’ll complete the Speed Writer skill challenge before too long, and everything will move along quicker. (I can’t believe it’s taken her this long to write four books. Ugh.)

Lincoln continues to slowly level up in cooking. He is a big fan of this plate of pancakes he made. Like, possibly too big a fan. Excuse me, do you ever look at your wife that way?

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Lincoln loves his little girl. His favorite thing to do is tickle her—sometimes he’ll pick her up and do the tickle interaction multiple times in a row. Roberta giggles and giggles. It’s really convenient having Lincoln around all the time—he can watch Roberta and teach her her toddler skills, and Odile can focus on her writing.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Odile’s second pregnancy goes smoothly—she pretty much just writes the whole time, and reads when her fun bar is low.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

On Wednesday, she gets invited to yet another one of DeAndre Wolfe’s parties. I have a feeling she’s not going to be there for very long, but I send her anyway to get her out of the house. She’s had the Stir Crazy moodlet for days now. Lincoln tags along this time, too.

Odile lasts a couple of hours at the party, much longer than expected. Then she goes into labor while talking to Gala Ball.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Unfortunately, Lincoln is down in DeAndre's aquarium-like basement discovering the magic of guitar for the first time, so he has no idea when his wife leaves to go to the hospital. (There, I got a picture! See? See?!) Eventually he gets the memo and meets her there.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, poor Roberta is having to deal with one of the worst babysitters ever. He ignores her crying for a good hour—she’s hungry, tired, and needs a diaper change—and instead of taking care of ALL her needs, he just plunks her in the crib. Great. When she continues to cry, the babysitter moves her to the high chair to feed her, but then leaves her there while she has an accident. Oi. Hopefully Odile’s birth is, again, a quick one.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

It’s a repeat of last time, aside from the snow blanketing the sidewalk outside the hospital. The practically-midnight hour. The hoping for a boy. And…hooray! A boy is born about twenty minutes before midnight. Time to pick our first boy’s name of the challenge…

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

YES, our first hillbilly name! Everyone say hello to Joe Bob Middlemiss. I’m laughing as I’m typing this. His name is Joe Bob. I’m dying. (Joe and Bob are perfectly normal names, but when you put them together…)

I roll traits for Joe Bob. He is an Artistic Genius. That will work out very well for next generation. (I’ve done the generation two roll, but I won’t reveal anything until our heir ages up. Also, I haven't picked the heir. For now, they are both eligible and will have to impress me with their accomplishments.)

At this point, I use pretty much all the family funds to tack an addition on to the house. No more cribs-in-the-living-room nonsense. I build a nursery with two cribs, one for each little Middlemiss.

Odile has her adult birthday in the nursery and demonstrates the fact that I forgot to put lights in.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Here’s the nursery WITH lights. And with two little nooboos.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Let’s fast forward to Joe Bob’s toddler birthday, because we all agree that’s the most interesting part. Right? Right.

Oh. My. Gosh.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

I’ve seen a lot of cute toddlers, but few are as cute as this little guy right here. I’m just saying. He’s a copy of Lincoln in a lot of ways, but CUTER. (I bet Lincoln as a toddler was pretty darn adorable, though.)

Joe Bob ages up to toddler just after midnight and is fully awake at that point, so he spends the entire night playing in the living room while everyone else is asleep. Eventually I have to drag Odile out of bed to teach him to potty before he has an accident, but other than that, he fares well on his own for a while.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

He’s a little cutie.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Joe Bob’s toddler birthday also happens to be Roberta’s child birthday. Finally, another self-sufficient person in the house!

She’s beautiful. I roll her third trait, and it’s Bookworm. I couldn’t have picked a better one myself.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

That Sunday, after Odile gets a nice round of royalties, I build another addition onto the house. I really want to start expanding it for future generations, but funds are still very limited. The most the family has ever had is about $8,000, and I blow it all immediately on a laundry room and second bathroom. I also rearrange the kitchen a little bit.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Roberta spends most of her childhood playing. She loves to play princess.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

She also plays with her Imaginary Friend, Buddy. Buddy is one of the least annoying IFs I’ve had. He stands around and watches more than he interrupts, and his voice is really cute.

I’ve never seen this before—at one point, Buddy watches while Roberta presides over the royal court (and Odile eats lunch, oblivious to what’s going on around her). And then he sweeps into a bow!

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

I love how Imaginary Friends run. It makes me crack up. And when one of them is being chased by a T-Rex, it’s even better.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

One evening, I notice that Roberta hasn’t come home from school yet. I right-click on her portrait and the camera pans over to the cemetery, where she is swimming in one of the lily pools! I forgot that she had a field trip there. I guess she just stayed there after school. And her homework is already done, too.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Here's another thing I've never seen before––a child (or toddler) playing with another child's Imaginary Friend doll. That very night, Joe Bob is once again being nocturnal. Buddy has returned to his doll form while Roberta sleeps. And Joe Bob goes over and starts cuddling Buddy like a teddy bear.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

I think Buddy really does act like a teddy bear in this instance. Joe Bob doesn't get any of the IF moodlets, since it's not his doll. He just gets the "Having a Blast" moodlet. Super weird. Makes me wish he'd gotten an Imaginary Friend of his own.

Lincoln, meanwhile, continues to dumpster dive like a champ. I send him out for hours at a time to dig in the same dumpsters over and over again. He has Simmunity, so he doesn’t get nauseous anymore, but he still gets very dirty and cold. I really feel bad for him. He had so much potential as a scientist, and I had to drag him out of that career and into this one. Ugh.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

At least he makes beautiful, beautiful babies.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Next time, we'll see Roberta become a teenager and Joe Bob become a child. And hopefully, one day soon, we will pick the heir.

[Beks]

Chapter 6 – A New Normal

Odile is really starting to make it as a writer. At last! She writes her fourth bestseller (a satire titled Bags Program—yes, that was a randomly generated book title) and completes her lifetime wish when I’m not even looking. Congrats, Odile! (She’s not satisfied, though, because she’s only at level 5 in her career.)

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

On her last night as a child, Roberta plays chess with Buddy.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

I enjoy watching the pieces on the chess board move around seemingly of their own accord.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Lincoln is finally able to cook his wife’s favorite dish—Veggie Burgers. He can also make his own favorite food, Mac and Cheese, and Joe Bob’s favorite, Spaghetti with Veggie Sauce. That just leaves Roberta’s favorite food, Frogs Legs. Note to self: Do not forget to take a trip to France.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Oh gosh, it's a floating mop! No, wait, it's a ghost. But...no, wait. It's...it's the most helpful Imaginary Friend imaginable! Thank you, Buddy!

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Okay, things are getting a little weird with Buddy. He seems to be less imaginary than he’s supposed to be. For one thing, he cleans up around the house without being asked. And secondly, Lincoln rolls a wish to “Give a Friendly Introduction to Buddy”. Buddy’s portrait is there and everything! But Lincoln still can’t see Buddy, of course. It’s like he’s just aware of his presence. Weeeeird.

The kids’ birthdays roll around. Joe Bob ages up first—he gets a cake, because I’m more anxious to get him out of the toddler stage. Toddlers are tiring.

His daddy brings him up to blow the candles while Buddy, always wanting to be in the middle of the action, looks on. (Buddy is like my dog. Always needs to be right smack in the middle of the highest concentration of people in the house at any given time. It's an endearing characteristic, but also annoying as heck.)

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

This boy is going to be a looker when he grows up, I’m JUST saying. He rolls Lucky as his third trait.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Between the agings-up, I do a bit of building and renovating on the house. There’s a new bedroom for the kids to share (sorry, Roberta), and I’ve added a half wall to the living area to make it a little more separate. I like this house overall—it’s one of the better ones I’ve built, I think, but I still don’t love the whole “great room” concept. I’d also love to fit a library/office in here for Odile, at some point.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

That evening, Roberta ages up while experimenting at the new lab station.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

She just keeps getting more and more stunning as she grows. She rolls the Slob trait, which seems to conflict quite severely with her Neurotic trait. She's in for an interesting life.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Buddy, of course, ages up as well. The first time he and Roberta interact after aging up, little pink hearts fly up. (Of course I didn’t get a screenshot of it.) Buddy seems quite taken with Roberta. He constantly wants to dance with her. It’s kind of adorable. It’s the most physical interaction they can have, I guess, besides a friendly hug.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Roberta, in turn, seems particularly motivated to discover potions. She does need to get her logic skill up for potential future careers and such, so I let her go at it as much as she wants. And then some.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Life takes on a comfortable sense of normalcy now that both the kids are in school. It's the weekend, so the family can hang out together. The bookworms read in amiable silence on the couch.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Roberta tries her hand at cooking on the big girl stove.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

She also tries her hand (er, tongue) at licking plates clean. She tries to do it when her father isn't looking...he clearly does not approve. Which is funny, because he pretty much embodies the slob trait for a living, even if he doesn't have it himself.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Roberta and Joe Bob have a really sweet relationship. Joe Bob asks her to read him a bedtime story the first night she's old enough to do so. She chooses a cooking skill book, because she cares so very much about his skill development. What a good big sister.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Yes, things are quite peaceful around the Middlemiss household right now. Hopefully it lasts forever.

[Beks]

Chapter 7 – Inferno

First, a lil update. I've given in and installed a couple of mods: NRaas Story Progression and Master Controller. I'm hoping that Story Progression will make future generations more interesting and provide some more varied genetics as well. I'm already enjoying the drama that's blossoming around town.  Master Controller is super fun, but feels a little bit cheaty (so far I'm just using it to find out nosy details about various sims around town, not make any actual changes). I may end up uninstalling it. But for now...being able to read the town's population like a book is kinda great. We'll see how long I feel like––

WE INTERRUPT THIS PROGRAM WITH A BREAKING NEWS ANNOUNCEMENT.

It's a normal Tuesday in Sunset Valley. It's fall. The air is crisp and cool, and the kids are off to school. Odile settles herself at her computer and starts working on her current book (another satire, called Vampire Pancakes). Lincoln heads across town to the junkyard to dig up some furniture to sell.

He’s there about ten minutes—not even halfway through his first dumpster dive—when that notification appears. About the sky going dark, or whatever.

Another sim wanders over and looks up into the sky, shielding her eyes from the sun. Lincoln, waist-deep in garbage, doesn’t notice anything.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

I realize what is about to happen and cancel Lincoln’s action queue. I'm more excited than nervous at this point. I've heard of this happening, but I've never seen it in any of my games. I'm thinking, Is this because I installed Story Progression? Wow, why didn't I do this sooner?! So much drama is happening!

I am waiting to see a shadow. That’s what happens, right? A shadow shows you where the meteor is going to fall so you can run away?

I pan the camera up into the sky. There's something there, all right. Or is that just the sun?

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

But I don’t see anything on the ground––no shadow. Or I miss what is there. It all happens so quickly. Lincoln pulls himself out of the dumpster, at my bidding. He finally seems to realize what is happening and looks up.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Two seconds later...

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Cue absolute and utter shock.

At first, I'm like, Oh, it's fine. Lincoln got away, right? It probably just fell next to him...the explosion is humongous, of course, but that doesn't mean it killed him. He probably just got singed, right? Yeah, he's gonna be fine!

Lincoln...?

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

I have never been more wrong.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Lincoln Middlemiss has been crushed by a massive rock from outer space.

AND I LEGITIMATELY FREAK OUT.

Grim comes and does his work. Lincoln begs for his life, because duh, it wasn’t over yet?? He still has so much to live for?? Etc. etc.?? But Grim, as always, remains firm. He reaps Lincoln like a sheaf of corn. And that is that.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

I’m pretty sure my mouth stays wide open for about five solid minutes as all of this is happening.

I’m quite devastated. I really liked Lincoln! He was a central figure in this story, and Odile loved him, and his two kids loved him. Hey, yeah, he left behind two kids! How cruel can fate be?? I suppose the timing was as good as it could have been…Odile can make enough money to support the family now, and the kids are old enough to take care of themselves. But like…WHY???

Odile learns of what happened and runs to the junkyard as fast as she can get there.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

She reaches the site of the impact. She looks at where her husband was standing, at the rock that destroyed him. She looks at his gravestone in the grass on the other side of the fence.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

She weeps. Because it ISN’T FAIR.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Then she takes the grave home. The kids get home from school. They know. They’ve heard. Joe Bob’s plumbob (if this wasn’t such a sad scene, I’d laugh at that phrase) is already in the red. Roberta copes by burying herself in her book; Joe Bob just cries, over and over again.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

My heart is actually breaking for these kids. And for Odile. Just…wow.

Roberta gets into bed around 6 pm. I like to think this is because she’s too sad to face the world right now, and not because she was up until 2 am discovering potions. Joe Bob finishes his homework like the good little boy he is, and then crawls into his parents’ bed. Well…Odile’s bed. She’ll be sleeping there alone now. Joe Bob asks for a bedtime story. Odile chooses to read him Murder in Pleasantview. Really, Odile? This is, like, not at all the time to exercise your sense of humor.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

The only good thing that comes out of this is the meteor itself. Odile collects it, because I think she deserves that much, thank you very much. It ends up being worth over 5,000 simoleons. Definitely not worth losing Lincoln…but at least it helps a little with the absence of our second source of income.

GUYS. I AM SO SAD.

I swear Odile’s neuroticism intensifies after her husband’s death. She checks the sinks and the stove a lot more, and freaks out more often. It’s only sensible. Her world has been turned upside down in the worst way possible. The universe might seem to align with itself most of the time—until a meteor drops out of the sky and kills your husband. I mean, what are you supposed to do when that happens? Get ten times more anxious than usual, that’s what.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

I realize soon after this that there is one thing Lincoln didn’t finish doing for the challenge. Not only was he a major source of income—he was the family cook. For the Gourmet requirement of this generation, someone in the family needs to cook everyone’s favorite dish at least once. Thankfully Lincoln got through three out of the four favorite foods in the family, so we don’t need to repeat those. But he did not get to make Frogs Legs for Roberta. He didn’t even get to France. Now Odile has to get her cooking skill up enough to make the last favorite dish for her daughter. Luckily, you only need level 3 cooking to make Frogs Legs, and Odile is already on the high end of level 2. She will need to fish as well, though. I’m not sure if she needs a certain level in order to catch frogs…hopefully not. We’ll have to get ourselves to France and find out.

The next couple days after Lincoln’s death are difficult for everyone. Odile pours herself into her first ever drama novel, which she has titled A Meteor Killed My Husband And I Am Not Okay With It. I still haven’t seen Roberta cry—except the one time she cries on Buddy’s shoulder.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Joe Bob, oddly enough, is one of the most bookwormish non-bookworms I’ve encountered. He reads autonomously almost every chance he gets. I also have him work on his logic and cooking skills as much as possible. Roberta, too. One of them is going to be the heir, so they both need to get their skills up in preparation.

I feel even more reluctant to choose an heir now, though. I need to decide before Roberta reaches her Young Adult birthday, because if it ends up NOT being her, I have to move her out within 24 hours of her aging up. Right now, I just don’t want to lose another family member. This is really affecting me a lot. I think I need a glass of nectar.

So yeah, we'll continue next time. RIP Lincoln. I'll miss you more than you know. 

[hazelnut]

Oh no!  My Sims are meteor magnets but I've never actually lost one  .  Poor Lincoln!

On a happier note, frogs are easy to catch.  You don't need any fishing skill at all, although it helps to have Cherimola Blan grapes as bait.

[Beks]

The Middlemisses appreciate your sympathy in this difficult time. And thanks for the tip about frogs! Good to know that it can be a quick and easy trip to France. That'll happen in the next chapter, I think. Thank you for reading 

[Beks]

Chapter 8 – Hauntings

The mourning period ends eventually, and everyone slowly finds their way back into normal life. There’s still a shadow of doom and gloom cast over the family (or maybe that’s just me being sad), but life goes on, as it always does.

Odile takes up the mantle of the garden. There’s not much of a reason keep it going, really (Lincoln’s lifetime wish was The Perfect Garden, which is the main reason I had him start it), but it’s in full bloom (or the fruit-and-vegetable equivalent of that), and Odile hates the idea of seeing it all wilt and die. Plus, Lincoln’s gravestone is there. He deserves to be surrounded by healthy, beautiful plants.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Roberta gets singed while working at the lab station. Don’t, Roberta, you’re giving me flashbacks!

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Everybody wants to sit on the last couch that Lincoln salvaged from the dumpster. Or was it a celebrity gift? Either way, it is everyone's favorite couch. (That’s the new butler, Allison. I hired her in the hopes that she would do laundry. She does not do laundry.)

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Thursday evening is prom. The evening starts with some more weirdness from Buddy. The second the limo pulls up outside, Buddy absolutely BOOKS it out the front door and…disappears into the limo. I zoom up close just to make sure. Yup. There he is, sitting inside, waiting for Roberta to join him.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Uh…okay?

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Well, here’s Roberta, looking absolutely smashing in her prom getup.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

But then, as soon as Roberta gets into the limo, Buddy gets back out. And sprints into the house. I guess the sight of such a pretty girl made him lose his nerve? I don’t know. Guess he's not going to prom after all.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Roberta has a mixed experience at prom. She’s elected prom queen, because I don’t know if I’ve ever had a sim who is NOT elected prom queen (except siblings, maybe), but she also gets into a couple of fights and is rejected twice for a dance—once from a popular guy, once from a loner guy. Ouch. See, this is why Buddy should have come along with her. They would have danced the night away, and he would’ve made sure Roberta was having a great time.

On that note: I have never seen so much evidence of attraction between a sim and their Imaginary Friend before they are made real, as I have with Roberta and Buddy. It’s mostly on Buddy’s end—he follows Roberta around, talks to her, dances with her. He even jumps out of his little doll form a few minutes before she wakes up, then waits at the foot of her bed and greets her with a wave and a hello. Like he misses her while she’s asleep. It’s the sweetest thing. And Roberta, while she is of course a normal sim and lives her own life accordingly, seems to value his friendship greatly. There’s a closeness between them that I’ve never seen before. I might ship it.

But we'll see.

A few days pass. Fiiinally, on Saturday night, the night before his son becomes a teenager, Lincoln makes his first appearance as a ghost. (Meteor ghosts are pretty cool looking, by the way. All fiery orange and stuff.)

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

The first thing he does is take a shower, probably because when he died, he was reeking of garbage. (I’m so sorry, Lincoln!) Then he goes and looks at his sleeping kids.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

And then…more weirdness. Lincoln drifts around the lot a bit, and then he goes next door. On the way, he rises high up into the air and floats in through the second story wall. It’s actually really creepy and this screenshot doesn't quite capture the eeriness (or the full height he reached). I’m probably going to have nightmares about it. Scrolling down now. *shudder*

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Anyway. Lincoln goes next door, to the Castor household. Because I have Master Controller now, I can do things like see into other houses. (Woot!) So I open up the Castor house and watch what Lincoln does. Well, it so happens that his brother Newton, of all people, is hanging out with the Castors at four in the morning. Ohkay. He actually looks relatively excited to see his brother. Or maybe he’s just happy that he’s dead? Who knows.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Lincoln and Newton have their first civilized conversation ever, probably.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

It doesn’t last long, of course—these guys are enemies, after all. Lincoln tries to crack a joke and Newton shoots him down, and then Newton starts talking trash (literally) about him.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

“Man, you smell like GARBAGE. You…you ARE garbage!”

“Oh, wow, I’ve never heard that one before!”

Or something.

Anyway, Lincoln takes a very brief nap on one of the beds in the house and then vanishes at sunrise. I have no idea why he felt the need to go to the Castors. Maybe he wanted to try and make peace with Newton? It didn’t work, unfortunately. Maybe someday.

Sunday is Joe Bob’s birthday. Odile, wanting to liven up the household after such a dark week, decides to throw him a birthday party. This is a nice idea, except for the fact that there are no townies Joe Bob’s age. They’re all homeless sims and newspaper deliverers. So while there are several teens and plenty of adults for his mother and sister to talk to, there’s nobody for Joe Bob to play with. He spends much of the party practicing chess by himself.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

He ages up outside in the rain, and rolls the Light Sleeper trait.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Not bad. Not bad at all.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

A couple nights later, Lincoln returns. This time, he soars right through the kids’ bedroom and wakes them both up by getting sort of stuck in the corner behind their bunk beds. (I know this looks like a picture of Roberta's butt, but if you look below the top bunk, you can see our friend Lincoln hanging out in Joe Bob's pillow.)

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Fortunately, Odile is still up doing laundry, so she gets to see her husband for the first time since his death. It’s a touching reunion.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Odile asks Lincoln to watch the stars with her. I only realize afterwards how inappropriate a request that is, considering it was star-like matter that killed him. But he obliges, and they nestle together near the garbage can (Lincoln’s comfortable there, I guess) to stargaze.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

They stay out there until almost 5 in the morning. I try to get them to woohoo (because how many chances does one sim have to woohoo with a man who was killed by a meteor? NOT VERY MANY), but Lincoln is oddly skittish. He kisses her one last time and heads back to his grave. Dawn is coming, and Odile is about to fall over from exhaustion. I guess it wasn’t meant to be.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Next time, we'll venture to France in search of frogs, and also find out who the Generation Two heir will be! Toodles.

[Beks]

Chapter 9 – Frogs & Potions

A few days before her Elder birthday (what), Odile books a flight for her long-awaited trip to France.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Ahh, I love France. The scenery, the music…especially the music. It gets stuck in my head and I don't mind it at all. I apologize (to you all, and to myself) that my graphics are so meh. I do wish I had a more powerful computer expressly for the purpose of traveling in the Sims. *sigh*

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

It's still beautiful, though. So beautiful that Odile freaks out the second her feet touch European soil.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Anyway! Odile heads into the bookshop first thing and buys the Frogs Legs recipe for 900 freaking simoleons. (Luckily she’s a celebrity, so she gets half off.)

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Then she heads out to one of the local fishing spots and tries fishing for the first time.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

@hazelnut was right––I needn’t have worried about Odile's fishing skill. She catches her first frog in about .2 seconds. By nightfall, she’s caught ten of them. I was going to send her home as soon as she got a handful of them, but since she's having such success, I decide to have her stay out her three days. May as well stock up the fridge. It is Roberta’s favorite food, after all. (Weirdo.)

Odile fishes dawn to dusk the next day. There's nothing like a French sunset over a French pond in France.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

On the third day, she buys some cherimola blan grapes at the general store first. These allow her to catch much better quality frogs than the previous two days. By the time she goes home, she’s reached level 5 of the fishing skill and has caught nearly thirty frogs, along with a handful of other types of fish. She has also decided that frogs as big as footballs are NOT particularly disgusting. Whatever, lady.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]  

Odile returns home with her progeny (frogeny?). The next day, another much-anticipated event finally happens: Roberta figures out the formula for the Imaginary Friend Metamorphium potion.

These two have been best friends ever since Roberta was a toddler. Roberta has tried to find a townie worthy of her attention, but no one has come close to meaning as much as Buddy means to her. It's high time we make this relationship real.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

The second she discovers the potion, Roberta turns right around and gives it to Buddy, who has of course been watching her this whole time.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

“I’ve been dreaming of this for so long…”

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Buddy is a good looking guy. Actually he looks exactly like another IF-made-real I had fairly recently…but whatever. As soon as he transforms, he wishes to kiss Roberta for the first time. All right, bud. Keep your pants on. Let’s fix your mullet first.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Here’s Buddy after a bit of tweaking. His traits are Ambitious, Star Quality, Shy, and Daredevil—a surprisingly nice mix of traits for an Imaginary Friend. An interesting mix, too—those last three seem to almost contradict each other. I think he and Roberta will do well together. She’s a completely contradictory Neurotic Slob, after all.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

The following day is Spooky Day. No school—a perfect opportunity for Roberta and Buddy to get to know each other as girl and boy, not as girl and toy.

Buddy has plans. He gets up early and makes a plate of waffles for Roberta. (Do you like his boxers? I like his boxers.)

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Roberta really enjoys those waffles. Look at those crumbs fly!

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Then, when they’ve both eaten, he asks her out on a date.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

They take a cab across town, under a glistening rainbow.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Willowglen Ampitheater is one of my favorite lots in the Sims 3. It’s like something out of another world. (Which I guess it is.) Buddy takes Roberta there, because it’s probably the most romantic setting one can find in Twinbrook. I thought I took a pretty screenshot of the lot as a whole, but it turns out I just took this:

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Not my best work. Anyway, Buddy and Roberta arrive. And the romance is not far behind. As rain drips down from the leaves above, Buddy confesses his attraction to Roberta, and before long…

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Awwww. Buddy gets his 1,000 point wish to kiss Roberta, and they make things official.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

And now, let's give them a little privacy...or sneak a glimpse from afar. (Here's a better shot of Willowglen Ampitheater.)

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

And with that, it's announcement time: I’ve chosen the heir, and it’s Roberta! Not surprising, probably. I’ve sort of always thought of her as the heir, even though I made sure Joe Bob got his skills up just in case. I adore Joe Bob, and I’ll be sad to see him move out, but I know he’ll do very well on his own. And probably get married in a hot second, because that’s what all the townies are doing now that Story Progression is a thing.

So, congratulations to Roberta, on the boyfriend and on the heirship. (Heirdom? Heirness?) Next time, we'll see some big-time birthdays and watch Roberta take the helm of the Middlemiss Random Legacy. Woot!

[Beks]

Chapter 10 – Love in the Snow

We must begin this chapter with a bittersweet occasion: Odile's elder birthday.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

She ages up in the midst of writing, of course. She hardly does anything else.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

She's quite a lovely elder.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Sunday is the first day of winter and Roberta’s Young Adult birthday—the start of Generation Two. It’s also Buddy’s birthday, of course, since his birthdays always match up with Roberta’s.

They celebrate by throwing a party for all of their friends and acquaintances. Jade Greenwood decides to tell a ghost story first thing, which means the first hour of the party is spent in the dark. Thanks, Jade. Very helpful.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Roberta blows out the candles on her cake.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Here is our new heir! She aged up with the Daredevil trait, a trait she shares with Buddy. Her final traits are Genius, Neurotic, Bookworm, Slob, and Daredevil.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Before we continue with the birthday festivities, here are the rolls for Generation Two:

Family Structure – The Shake Up
Number of Children – 1
Income – Medical / Professional Sports / Day Care
Generational Goal – Career Student
Miscellaneous Fun – A Sim For All Seasons

This is a pretty fun set of rolls! The Career Student requirement just means that one of the adults in the household has to take 10 classes at different rabbitholes around town. (You can also fulfill the requirement by getting three University degrees, but I don’t have University.) And the Sim For All Seasons roll means that Roberta will enthusiastically celebrate every season and holiday by planning season-specific outfits, decorating the house, visiting festivals, and throwing holiday parties.

Speaking of which, here’s her first seasonal outfit for winter.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

I’m excited for this generation! And I’m excited for Roberta to take charge. I’ve very much enjoyed Odile, and I’m sad to see her as an elder already (where did the time go?), but it’s high time that Roberta take over. She’s ready. I’m ready. Lessgo.

But first, Buddy ages up:

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

I don’t get to choose his trait since he spent exactly one day in school, but miraculously, he rolls Athletic. He’s going to be doing the Professional Sports career, so uh, yeah. Couldn't be more perfect. He grows out a bit of facial hair. (I could've made it pink to match his eyebrows, and I was tempted, but it looked just a little ridiculous.)

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Monday morning is graduation.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Buddy graduates with merit and is voted Most Likely to Save the World––an impressive superlative to earn after only one day of school. And Roberta graduates with merit as well (though she should’ve received highest honors, since she got on the honor roll) and is voted…Most Likely to Take Over the World. Interesting. Interesting that these two are going to get married.

Wait, what? They’re getting married? Since when?!

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Roberta gets down right there in the snow at City Hall and asks Buddy to marry her. To the great surprise of everyone, he says yes.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

They get married that very afternoon, in the snow. The background really wasn’t cooperating for these screenshots—I don’t know why the lot is a purple square when it’s covered in snow.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Congratulations, Roberta and Buddy!

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

I should’ve turned the arch the other way…that’s MUCH prettier.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

The newlyweds make their way to their newly built bedroom (featuring their semi-clashing favorite colors, turquoise and red) to woohoo for the first time.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Can we just admire these adorable faces for a minute?

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Meanwhile, Odile puts the finishing touches on her first romance novel, entitled Roberta & Buddy. It's completed just in time to give it to her daughter and son-in-law as a wedding present.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]