Masterpiece chapter 2-1
- 2. Welcome back to Falling to Masterpieces, an artistic alphabet legacy. Did you enjoy the super creepy cover page background? This round’s backgrounds and chapter names are from the works of Anjolie Ela Menon, the namesake of the heiress, and will not all be totally freaky. Just this one. Wanted to make a good first impression and all that. Anyway . . . the heiress is Ms. Anjolie Masterpiece, pictured above, a romance sim with high standards.
- 3. When last we left, three of the ten children of gen. A were in college together, close to graduating. Anjolie and her brothers Andy and Arthur did extremely well in college and graduated with 4.0s. First though, there’s time for a few last things they need to get wrapped up before college ends. For Andy here, that includes dancing awkwardly while being stared at by two different girls. Smooth, Andy.
- 4. Arthur’s final business has to do with his sweet red-headed boyfriend, Aaron. After a night out on the town together, Arthur very awkwardly proposed to Aaron. Awkward is kind of a running theme with these guys. Anyway, Aaron was happy to accept and now the two are engaged to be married! Andy has been engaged to his sweetie, Prof. Lora, since the first semester of college. Only Anjolie remains a free agent.
- 5. Anjolie’s got plenty on her plate right now without worrying about settling down. There will be time for that later when she returns home. For now, most of Anjolie’s life revolves around romancing as many guys as possible for her LTW. As so often happens, this also earns her a place in the Secret Society. Unfortunately, since Masterpiece Hall is a Greek house, former dates have a tendency to return unbidden, though usually they show up dressed.
- 6. After graduating with honors, Anjolie made full use of the time after graduation to finish up her LTW. According to my count, she had only woohooed 19 sims when the game informed me she had completed her LTW, but who am I to complain? When she rolled up her next LTW (to have 20 lovers), she was able to fulfill it immediately with one more lover, the handsome gentleman pictured here. Two LTWs under her belt, Anjolie was finally ready to leave college.
- 7. “I choose you . . . I guess.” All throughout college, Anjolie rarely had more than the barest chemistry with her lovers, no doubt due to impossibly high standards. Corwin, a CAS- made college townie, was one exception. They have two bolts together and Corwin is pretty okay looking (I should know, I made him ;) ) so he will be the next father in the Masterpiece family. Before these two return home together, let’s take a look at the (many) spares.
- 8. First-born Avery had moved back to Blank Canvas to be with his family, leaving six other spares. Together, they dropped out and decided to found the Masterpiece Commune. Due to personal experience and concerns about the overpopulation of the sim world, they have all decided to remain childfree. Instead they get to live together in a giant house and never be played! Hurray! Mona Lisa, the superbuggy servo, joined them because I was too worried about her to bring her back to the main house. Top row, L to R: Artemisia, Augusta, Aubrey Bottom row: Antoni, Andrea, Alphonse Have a nice life, spares!
- 9. Andy and Arthur get a bit more attention since they were actually played through college and have grown on me quite a bit. Arthur in particular is a favorite of mine, because he is just so cute and goofy. His first action in his new apartment was to set himself in the time-out corner and write in his diary. Of course. Obviously. Once he felt comfortable leaving the corner, Arthur invited Aaron over and asked him to move in. The two knowledge sims then got to gaining a few skills before moving forward with their life.
- 10. A private backyard wedding preceded the birth of their son, Edward.
- 11. Edward is well-cared for by his two fathers. He grew into a wonderful boy: smart, cute and dorky like his dads.
- 12. Edward welcomed Andy when he moved into the other half of the duplex that Arthur’s family lives in. Since Andy and Arthur became so close during college, I thought it’d be fitting if they raised their families right next door to each other.
- 13. And raising a family is exactly what’s on family sim Andy’s mind. Ever since his long-ago engagement, he’s been waiting for college to end so he could get back to the main neighborhood and start fulfilling some wants. He was so eager to get married that Prof. Lora never made it in off the street before they were hitched. It wasn’t long before she was expecting, and Andy was thrilled.
- 14. Andy and Lora ended up having two pairs of twins. The older two, Korra and Katara, looked wildly different from each other, with Korra inheriting Lora’s small eye shape and Katara favoring the Masterpiece line. The younger twins, Toph and Mai, are identical however, and both have a lot of Andy’s features. I dressed them in different colors to tell them apart. I love that this family has another pair of identical twins in it.
- 15. Back at the main Masterpiece house, perma-plat Anjolie was finally spurred on to get moving on legacy business. In the middle of the night, she quickly invited over, proposed to, and then moved in Corwin.
- 16. Corwin is a popularity/fortune sim with the personality 4/3/7/3/7. Amusingly, Anjolie’s third LTW is the same as Corwin’s first: become Hall of Famer. Since he was a college townie, the game assumes that he graduated but he doesn’t actually get the benefits of graduating, so unlike Anjolie, Corwin has to work his way up to superstardom from the bottom.
- 17. Corwin’s early attempts to socialize with Hiery and simRoxy didn’t go well at all. They just didn’t have much in common to talk about at first. A long familial hang-out session brought their relationship up to friends, but just barely.
- 18. “Who’s that guy our daughter’s marrying?” Evidently, even though they spent hours together the previous day socializing, Corwin didn’t make much of an impression. This became a bit of a theme with him – people are always surprised when Corwin enters a room and pop up thought bubbles about him.
- 19. Once his identity was confirmed, Corwin said his vows and became Corwin Masterpiece, spouse of generation A. The marriage obviously made the family-minded elders happy, but Anjolie also got points due to picking up a secondary family aspiration since graduating college. She both feared and wanted her wedding. The want registered first, and since she was already perma-plat, didn’t do anything before the fear knocked her down a little. She regained the aspiration quickly though.
- 20. Oh yeah, this guy’s gonna fit in just fine. Immediately after changing back to normal clothes post-wedding, Hiery and Corwin raced over to play together at the swing. Totally grown-up behavior there, guys.
- 21. Once Corwin could be distracted from the swingset, he and Anjolie left on a honeymoon to Takemizu. After arriving, they went on a date that devolved into repeated dirty jokes before getting more serious.
- 22. “Hey man, nice hat.” “Thanks, dude! Right back at ya.”
- 23. “Ugh, I know exactly what you two are doing back there. It doesn’t matter how many times you check side to side, I’m still standing right here and I will still hear the whole thing. I am not getting paid enough to put up with this.” Sorry shopgirl! You know those randy romance sims – they just have to have their public woohoo.
- 24. The rest of the vacation went well. The couple delegated tasks so that Corwin learned the dragon legend and Anjolie learned teleportation. The rest of the time they basically spent on dates, on perpetual good-date-and-woohoo highs.
- 25. And, like the vast majority of my post-Bon Voyage sims, the couple conceived while on vacation. Generation B is officially on the way!
- 26. Yay Charcoal! You beat up a wolf. Good job, kitty. While Anjolie and Corwin arrived home, Charcoal got into a fight but was able to win it, sending the wolf packing. Tough cat.
- 27. Now that everyone’s home, we can get back to some of the routine. Everyone except Hiery has skills to gain and promotions to earn. Yes, simRoxy still hasn’t reached the top of her career (journalism) due to the extremely small number of days she actually went to work as an adult. Meanwhile, the newlyweds are both striving to become Hall of Famers. Anjolie has a leg up on Corwin due both to her boost from college and her larger collection of skill points.
- 28. Soon Anjolie’s pregnancy is showing, but that doesn’t mean she can’t continue to work towards her next promotion. “This doesn’t look very dignified. I’d prefer you not share it.” Too bad. Keep running!
- 29. Well. Looks like we’ve got ghosts, and not the usual kind. No, the sim using the bathroom here is actually Hiery, who returned from work invisible for some reason. I don’t think invisibility is usually a perk of being Captain Hero. Perhaps the Llama Queen did something to him while he was chasing down those robots. Changing clothes and taking a shower didn’t help him reappear, and I couldn’t force an error on him since I couldn’t click on him.
- 30. So I exited without saving. “And had to take another picture of me running while pregnant with a dorky hat?” Yes. I did. For posterity. Hiery came home from work invisible again, so I used the batbox to force errors on the entire lot. After clicking “reset” about a hundred times, Hiery reappeared and everything was good again. Sheesh.
- 31. Now that she is literally barefoot and pregnant, Anjolie has three persistant fears: throwing up, passing out, and bladder failure. Except for that last one, she’s pretty much afraid of becoming her mother, I think. Luckily, simRoxy’s terrible pregnancy-related behaviors are not hereditary and Anjolie didn’t even get sick once with this pregnancy.
- 32. Things have been a little . . . ordinary lately. Also, the venue hasn’t been open in about half a generation. I’m sure the two are related, so Hiery (now visible again) reopens the venue for the first time in the new house. This should be fun. *cackles*
- 33. Venue attractions include a poker table in the basement, instruments, the gamer reward pinball table, and of course, the special attractions. Such varied activities as getting bitten by cats while playing finger wiggle, dancing until you lose power, and staring at elders are all enjoyed by the customers.
- 34. It’s Carol! Do you remember Carol? She jacked my hairstyle then got food poisoning way back in the first chapter. Good to see you, old friend. Stay clear of any rotten food this time, will ya?
- 35. The business is only level two for now so the number of customers is low. With a bevy of strangers in the house, Corwin and Anjolie get ready for a different new arrival. Anjolie’s about ready to pop, and both of the soon-to- be-parents are happily expecting the baby. After the rushed frenzy of last generation’s ten kids, I decided to let Anjolie and Corwin take their time, so I didn’t cheesecake the pregnancy. We’ll just let nature take its course.
- 36. While the main couple try to prepare for the baby, the elders have plenty of time to themselves. Both Hiery and simRoxy are playful and like to autonomously tell dirty jokes, but neither of them likes hearing dirty jokes from their spouse. They reject each other’s jokes and run down their relationship, requiring plenty of smooching to get it back to perfect. I think I see what’s going on here, guys. Very sneaky. Meanwhile, as elders, the two are constantly taking inappropriate naps. It drives me crazy that elders nap instead of just going to bed.
- 37. The next morning, with a few customers also in attendance, Anjolie gives birth to the first baby of generation B . . . who turns out to be two babies. Why does it seem like I only get natural twins when I don’t want them? Every single member of the family has been wanting this birth. Anjolie and Corwin’s wants have been locked ever since Anjolie discovered she was pregnant on their honeymoon. It’s no surprise the family elders desired a grandchild, though.
- 38. Welcome to babies Bellini and Bazille, both little girls with Corwin’s black hair and eyes, and skintone 3. Giovanni Bellini was an Italian painter during the Renaissance. He is known for a rich and colorful style with detailed shading. He was also a teacher to several other greats, including Titian. Jean Frédéric Bazille was an impressionist painter from France. His work includes mostly landscapes and figure paintings. He died young during a battle in the Franco-Prussian War.
- 39. “Why did you make me have twins? I’m a romance sim.” B) I didn’t make you – you did it on your own. So, congrats on that, I guess. C) You have a secondary family aspiration. Right now you already want to cuddle one of them. You’ll be fine.
- 40. “Aww . . . someone forgot to dust the cat.” No, he’s just getting old, Hiery. Both Charcoal and Pastel are old now. I’m not going to bother with breeding kittens in this legacy. With the venue up and running and the next generation newly born, there’s plenty going on already.
- 41. Like this! Standing around in the corner, in your underwear, by yourself. Good times. Definitely worth customer satisfaction points.
- 42. Bellini and Bazille got some morning cuddles, but then both their parents had to be off for work. Anjolie’s already perma- plat but Corwin still really needs to fulfill his LTW. With all four of the adults out to work, the nanny came, and promptly picked a fight with a customer, losing us a star. And I sat there helpless, unable to do anything about it but watch. (*$#&$ nanny!
- 43. “I’m home from work! I’m a family sim! I’m wonderful!” “Me too! Yay!” For once the showing off is warranted. Halfway through the elder stage, simRoxy finally tops her career. Having ten babies certainly slowed her down, but she’s finally reached the top of the journalism track with all the power, prestige and money that entails.
- 44. And so she promptly retires, of course. She didn’t want it, but I did after seeing the nanny pick on my customers. SimRoxy is back in the nuturing business.
- 45. Mona Lisa loves to come dance at the house, but she always plays until she has to go recharge. Luckily the cloud of probably carcinogenic energy rays doesn’t bother the other customers, like Aubrey here. One of the benefits of having a home venue is that we see relatives a lot more often than we would otherwise. All of Hiery and simRoxy’s other kids stop by pretty often.
- 46. This is the first of many poorly laid out birthday pics. The kitchen, while a perfect size for the family’s food-related needs, is not conducive to great birthday pictures with the cakes so spread out. Anyway, just thought you should know so you can brace yourself for all of the twins’ future birthdays.
- 47. Bam, bam! The twins spin into the air and come down toddlers. Let’s check out how they turned out.
- 48. Aww! Both the twins are so cute in their own ways. Bellini (top) has Corwin’s eye shape while Bazille has the eye shape Anjolie inherited from simRoxy. Both of them turned out adorable, in my opinion. Bellini’s personality is 10/3/9/3/1. Bazille’s is 5/3/7/3/7. Looks like plenty of bed-making, noogies and running around in Bellini’s future. Bazille, however, has almost the exact same personality as her dad, having only one more neat point than him. She’s got a very moderate personality overall.
- 49. Um, Rob, the girls are sleeping and there’s not even a stereo anyway near the nursery. What the heck are you doing smustling in their room? Well? What do you have to say for yourself? “She started it.”
- 50. Oh. So she did.
- 51. ring ring “Hello? Oh, hi brother-in-law. Why yes, I do know where your servo is. Coincidentally, she’s in the same place she always is . . . you’d think you’d know that by now. If it’s a day that ends in Y, Mona Lisa is probably dancing.”
- 52. “Okay, Rob, that’s enough smustling. Even I’m over it now. Come on.”
- 53. With the nursery smustling session over, Corwin and simRoxy get started teaching the twins their skills. “Why do I have to do this? I’m the only one without a family aspiration. I couldn’t care less if they walk and talk.” Because, Corwin, you’re their dad and you have the day off work. If you would just go to work, I wouldn’t put you to work at home. Simple.
- 54. The elders get started on Anjolie and Corwin’s portraits. I’m trying something a little different with the portraits in this family: they’re intended to show the sim in a pose that captures the essence of their personality. Thus, popularity sim Corwin is pictured doing what he does most evenings: yakking on the phone. Anjolie’s shows her posing all pretty-like, like the romance sim she is, but simRoxy isn’t far enough in her painting for you to tell that.
- 55. Whoops! Looks like somebody forgot to turn the pose box off after the portrait painting session. That someone would be me, by the way. Just wanted to make that clear.
- 56. The two wavy-haired toddlers are learning and growing quickly, and I sit them down at the play table to make friends. Bazille had high relationships with everyone from birth, but Bellini’s are lower, which makes sense considering she’s mean. Bazille considerd Bellini a friend almost instantly, but it took a bit longer for them to reach mutual best friend status.
- 57. “Masterpieces! Let me in! I know you have tasty babies in there! . . . Crap. I started off on the wrong foot, didn’t I? I mean . . . uh . . . forget about the little ones for a minute. I just want to play poker too, like all the other people you let in. Come on, you guys let just anyone in, but you won’t open the door for me? It’s because I’m a wolf, isn’t it? I hope you know that’s discrimination. Hmmph. I’ll come back for the babies . . . I mean, poker . . . later.”
- 58. “Why does Anjolie get to play poker with Antoni and Mona Lisa and I’m stuck on potty duty? She’s not at work now. Why can’t I relax too?” Quit your whining, Corwin. Anjolie is working hard: she’s growing another little baby. Yes, Anjolie is pregnant again (and back in comfy pjs) now that the girls are almost children, and she gets to spend her maternity leave goofing off with the customers while Corwin works hard with the girls.
- 59. The poker table is a magnetic attraction for customers. I always put one in my venues. It’s pretty darn attractive to members of the family, too, so if they aren’t given explicit instructions, I can usually find them down here in the basement playing. Usually in their pjs too, but that’s just because they’re lazy.
- 60. “Congratulations, Roxanne Masterpiece! You have played so many games that I would like to invite you to . . . is that guy dead?” Nope. Just passed out. Most people know their limits but Antoni literally played until he dropped. A different sort of gambling problem, but still a problem to be sure.
- 61. The girls are adorable and they look super cute in their matching dresses with the big skirts when they’re standing, but they don’t do much for sitting pictures. Like their dad, both girls are serious so they prefer the logic toy, but I make them put in some creativity time too to keep them well-rounded.
- 62. “I’m so tired! I just want to go to bed! Waaaaaaah!” Ugh, I know you’re tired. That’s why I told you to go back to the blanket in the nursery several minutes ago. Unlike your sister, who is almost there, you decided to sit and whine instead, Bellini. Whose fault is that?
- 63. “I see you’re pregnant again, my daughter. Mind if I just rub your belly? You know how I feel about babies.” “Actually, I do mind.” *swats hand* Whoops! Looks like when I was making sure that Corwin was on good terms with his new in-laws, I forgot to make sure that Anjolie’s relationships with her parents were high. Since she’s been away at college and they weren’t played, they still have high relationships with her but hers have decayed. She was quite nonplussed by simRoxy’s overtures, so a long hang out was in store for them. Not surprisingly, all simRoxy wants to talk about is the baby. That woman has a one-track mind, I tell you.
- 64. “Yay! I got a promotion! This means I can relax, right?” Nope. You’ve still got several levels to go before you can finish your LTW. Back to the bookcase with you. “Aw man. Maybe I should get pregnant next time just so I can hang out.” Not happening.
- 65. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you: Charcoal, the world’s stupidest cat. Charcoal often “forgets” to eat for no apparent reason, regardless of whether there are clean, full bowls of food on the lot or not. He’s constantly giving me heart attacks because I see his portrait turn yellow, and when I click on him he has a red hunger bar. I am always terrified that he is going to get himself and Pastel taken away by starving himself. I don’t know what his problem is, but I wish he’d knock it off.
- 66. “Honey, do you know why our girls are apparently making money but we’re not?” “Baby’s first payday?” “We’re going to have to tax them. For living expenses.” “Of course.”
- 67. I tried to take a cute pic of the girls before their birthday but all that unruly hair kept getting in the way. Oh well, here’s the best shot.
- 68. Yes, it’s birthday time for Bellini and Bazille, but we’ve also reached the end of the chapter. Tune in next time for more Falling to Masterpieces and discover what the girls grow up like, how Corwin and Anjolie’s next baby turns out, and watch more customer hijinks. Until then, make sure to visit me at SiMania. Oh, and turn the page one more time . . .
- 69. “MASTERPIECES! Let me in! Or I’ll huff and I’ll puff and I’ll sit out here and cry softly to myself, feeling alone and friendless. Please. I just want to hang out!” Thanks for reading, folks!