2.14 Twin Draculas

 

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Bedivere’s life is kind of boring these days. The maid service was canceled after the disaster last chapter, so he’s been put in charge of keeping the house clean. He changes diapers, he mops up puddles, he clears away everyone else’s dirty dishes, he does the laundry… The highlight of his day is when I allow him to indulge one of his many wishes to interact with his hawt foreign GF.

Bedivere: “‘Shall I compare thee to an Egyptian summer’s day? Thou art hotter by far…’ No, that’s a bit too much, don’t want to scare her off by moving too fast; I’ve got it! ‘I want to have your babies, although I am admittedly unclear on which of us would be the childbearing partner due to our wildly differing biology.’ Perfect!”

At one point, I noticed that she was back in Sunset Valley, so I had him invite her over, but she walked in the door and immediately turned around and left again. I guess she got called back to Egypt? Bummer. What really sucks though is that their revolving-door of a date still counted as a date, and Tahiya got pissed at him and tanked their relationship.

Bitches, man.

---

Catherine has been taking advantage of her enforced horseless pregnancy leave to work on her painting skill, so that Ismael can finally get his portrait. (At this point, I had somehow forgotten that she could’ve just taken his picture with her very expensive Egyptian camera. *smacks forehead*)

She’s actually in front of the easel when her water breaks. Bedivere the neat freak freaks out immediately.

Bedivere: “NO! Not on my beautiful floors! I just had them cleaned!”

Cue hospital visit. The labor is much more intense than it was with Karla, which is because…

…they had twins!

Bedivere: “Oh no. A toddler and two babies in the same house? I can already smell the dirty diapers piling up.”

Catherine: “No, those are actual dirty diapers. This one just…um…did her ‘business.’”

Don’t ask why Ismael is thinking about food right now. Just…don’t.

Get used to screaming babies! Anyway, the Gallants ended up with even more female progeny, because apparently Brienne’s amazonian warrior woman genes run strong.

Catherine and Ismael name the first twin Bela, after Bela Lugosi. She’s born Grumpy, and doctors inform her parents that she shows early signs of the Insane trait. (Yikes.)

The second twin is named Lee, after Christopher Lee. She is born with the Athletic trait, and rolls Loves the Heat.

It takes a lot of rearranging, but eventually all three girls have their own crib crammed into the nursery.

Later that very same night, Catherine and Ismael both have their birthdays.

They’re still sickeningly in love, of course. They’re also both going through a midlife crisis, despite being highly successful and filthy stinking rich. *sigh*

Ismael has been getting a lot more impatient lately. Normally he’d take the time to talk this ghost through her death, bring her to terms with her mortality, and gently encourage her to pass on to the other side, but when you’ve got three or more jobs a night, sometimes you’ve just gotta beam the poor sucker up and call it a day.

He’s been overwhelmed with Sunset Valley’s sudden spirit infestation. Most nights, he doesn’t get home until early in the morning, and only has time to pass out for most of the day before heading out and repeating it all over again.

Because he’s so busy, Catherine and Bedivere have more or less taken over caring for the girls. Ismael helps out when he can, of course, but when three babies are screaming for attention, everyone around who’s needs aren’t in the red pitches in. It just so happens that Ismael is almost always either at work, starving, or about to pass out from exhaustion.

---

Late one night, Jared comes a-haunting. He takes some time to build a snowman…

…checks out photographs of the granddaughters he never got to meet…

…and dissipates the next morning in the middle of cooking a key lime pie. LUCKILY, the house doesn’t burn down. Instead, the stove becomes bugged and unusable and has to be replaced. Goddammit Jared!

---

Bearing Ismael’s hectic workload in mind, Bedivere tries to remember to be patient with his brother-in-law. But after several weeks without even a word of update on the experiments he’s meant to be running, he decides to gently bring it up.

Bedivere: “Let me preface this by saying that I in no way want to take even more time away from you and your girls, but, erm, how is our…special project coming along?

Ismael: “Hmm? Oh, my studies into the paranormal, you mean! Quite interesting! Bedivere, I had no ida you were interested in the field of spirits!”

Bedivere: “No, I- what? That’s not what I-”

Ismael: “Pardon me, I think I can hear the twins howling. Remind me to continue this conversation later!”

Bedivere: “…”

Bedivere: “Something is very wrong here.”

---

Snowflake day comes, and the Gallants throw a party to gather the whole family round for some pictures and exposition celebrate. Catherine learned from her mother’s mistakes, so only a handful of family is invited; El has apparently changed her hair after hitting her adult birthday, but Leo remains pretty much the same. Ismael’s dad (Ethan Bunch, for those who may have forgotten) has insisted on dressing like a goth weirdo ever since his wife died.

Connie has continued to irrationally hate Catherine, so she wasn’t invited, but her daughters actually get along very well with their aunt. That’s Sylvia Ursine over on the left, and her twin Laquita on the right with her man Francisco Bunch. They have…somewhat unfortunate faces, but I’m getting to be quite fond of them. I keep getting StoryProgression popups about them being adorable with their boyfriends – who are, by the way, brothers. They’re Darlene Bunch’s sons – and the only reason they didn’t come out fugly is because their dad is Sam Sekemoto. Dodged a bullet there. *shudder*

Another way of looking at it: not only are these twin sisters dating brothers, but Catherine’s nieces are dating Ismael’s cousins. Think about it.

Speaking of Ismael…

His midlife crisis made him roll a bunch of wishes to change his look, so I gave him a bit of a wardrobe upgrade. It…really works on him. He’s got a kind of hot, nerdy professor vibe? He looks like he teaches that one class that’s boring as sin, like History of Pottery Making or Textiles Economics, but his class is always packed full anyway because his students love him. I’m digging it, in any case.

Sylvia: Mee-ow, handsome!

Hush you, he’s happily married. And you’re dating his cousin.

Featured: A happy family gathering, plus some of Catherine’s photographs that I keep forgetting to show off.

---

This guitar was a Snowflake Day present; normally Catherine prefers piano, but apparently she likes to rock out too!

Bedivere: “I will find out what you did, Evil Alien Mom.”

---

 

 

nervous laughter

Uhh, hey everyone! I think we can now safely say that I can only be reliably counted on to pump out chapters every six months or so, huh?

EDIT: BAD NEWS.

So, it looks like at some point in the past few months, my save for the Gallants has been corrupted. As have all of my back-up saves – yes, all four of them. Which is…pretty heartbreaking, not gonna lie. I’m in the process of seeing if there’s anyway to maybe export the family and load them in another town, but it doesn’t look good.

If a miracle doesn’t strike, this might end up being the last chapter of the Gallants’ story – which isn’t to say that it will be the last time I play Sims3! If nothing pans out, I will be starting a new legacy, which I will be sure to link to from here. Wish me luck!

 

-<3 Mo

2.13 This Family is Going to Need So Much Therapy

Uh. Yeah. I’m just gonna fling this at this blog like a frisbee and run away again.

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Ismael wakes up to the sound of his wife’s phone ringing. This happens a lot; some travel agency keeps calling her at all times of day and night to offer all expenses paid trips abroad, so long as she does some photography work for them. Normally, the adventurous couple might even go for it, but they’re extremely reluctant to leave newborn Karla behind.

For a moment, he stands, feeling oddly dizzy and discombobulated. There’s a nagging feeling, like there’s something that he needs to do, but can’t quite remember…

…Right. Of course. The research.

It must be destroyed.

It’s a simple enough task to destroy the genetic samples he’s taken, since the amateur scientist has ample access to hydrochloric acid, and an even simpler one to burn what few notes he has written down. He kept them scarce so that it would be less likely for someone to stumble across them, but that paranoia now means that there’s hardly anything left for him to destroy.

As soon as he’s finished, he feels…good. Calm. Accomplished. But also oddly dizzy…

He’s unconscious before he hits the ground. In the morning, he’ll think he got caught up working on some breakthrough and passed out from simple exhaustion. A thought will cross his mind that whatever he was working on was important, but he will dismiss it in his rush to get back to the main house. If Catherine were to wake up, she’d worry about him. He will be very sure that this is more important than whatever his project was. He will not think about it again.

---

In other news, Karla is now a devastatingly adorable toddler!

Look at her! Another Brienne clone, but with some throwback Frio-red hair. D’aww, you almost can’t tell she has the grumpy trait.

Ismael can’t help but worry if the constant presence of restless ghosts will have an impact on his daughter’s development. After all, he hopes for her to take after him in the genius level IQ department.

Speaking of a traumatized childhood…

Rather than rushing the innocent child away from witnessing her grandfather’s death, the maid just sits there like an apathetic bump on a log.

Maid: Preventing psychologically scarring experiences wasn’t covered in my contract, sooo…

The whole family rushes in to sob as Grim shows up. Karla just sits there in befuddlement as, again, no one moves to remove her from the room.

Jared: About goddamn time, you lazy bum! You got any idea how long I’ve been waiting to kick the friggin’ bucket?! And hey, kid, what in the hell are you crying for?!

Catherine: I’m not crying, I’m hiding my face because you look like you’re naked right now and it’s making me really uncomfortable!

Grim: *long sigh*

Jared: Get me the hell outta here, spooky.

Catherine: Oh plumbob, Dad, why do you always have to be such a jerk!

Grim: *even longer sigh*

Maid: Umm, this is really sad and crap, but can I request a raise because of emotional damages or what?

---

Despite her protests otherwise, Catherine is in fact upset that her ancient father has passed on. She’s also upset he didn’t live long enough to see his soon-to-be second grandchild. (because yeah, she’s pregnant again)

He was always a big jerkface, but he genuinely loved all of his grandchildren. Or maybe that’s just because the only one he really met was too small to yell at.

Even as she throws herself into raising Karla properly, she’s plagued with doubts. Both of her parents are dead, leaving her with even more responsibility than being head of the household already gave her. Should she tell Bedivere about his alien heritage, or keep up the lie of claiming he’s simply “adopted?” Her parents always insisted that it wasn’t worth the risk, but her guilt over the deception has only been growing since she first confirmed Bedivere’s childhood assumptions. Not to mention her bizarre dream conversations with Alia The Amazingly Cryptic Unicorn.

She has no idea what to do, or who it’s safe to confide in. She wants to do right by her family, but she doesn’t know what the Right Choice is.

---

Bedivere is horribly depressed too, over the lingering grief of Tiff’s passing as well as his father’s. But in his case, his habit of politely going outside the house to burst into tears catches the attention of a random empathetic bystander.

Tahiya Shalut only left Al Simhara because she had to attend an artist’s convention. She never anticipated that taking a few hours to sightsee would end in her meeting a man so polite, so in touch with his emotions, so…enchantingly green.

Bedivere thinks she’s the most beautiful woman he’s ever seen.

Bedivere: She’s so talented, and beautiful, and her voice is like music! I think I’m in love! Do you think she’d be willing to come visit me?

Catherine doesn’t say anything; he’s so excited that he doesn’t need her input to keep talking. She tries to feel happy that her brother has found love, but she can’t help but wonder if this means that he’s going to move out too, to start his own family.

At least he’s still babysitting Karla, and imparting valuable martial arts tips.

Bedivere: Now remember, most people say that this is dishonorable, but if you really want to beat someone go for the crotch. Understand?

Karla: Guh.

---

Some random winter moments:

She might not be able to ride Danger in this weather, but Catherine makes sure to take plenty of time to socialize and groom him.

Ismael tries not to be judgemental, but he thinks Raven Goth should really know better than to leave her infant daughter out on the porch in this weather.

(And yes, StoryProgression really did name Bella & Mortimer’s first child “Raven Goth,” because apparently in this universe the Goth’s are really trying to be Addams family ripoffs.)

He makes this suit look good.

This adorable moment would probably be cuter if Catherine wasn’t dreaming about cuddling her horse.

Some people would say that fishing at night in the dead of winter is a bad idea. They might even say that anyone who does it is certifiably insane, and probably about to die of hypothermia.

Bedivere has a word for those people, but he’s too polite to say it.

D’aww, lookit the little gremlin.

 

 

 

 

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Okay, so it’s only been…almost a year since I last posted??? I don’t even know you guys, I really planned on finishing this last fall but it. Didn’t happen. Whoops?

I am so very sorry to all of you who have been waiting so patiently, and thankful to anyone who’s still reading! I won’t promise anything, because I know I’ll just break that promise, but I’m going to try to be more regular about these updates.

Moving on…

The last member of Generation 1 is officially dead. 😥 Jared really hung in there, I think he was somewhere in the area of 108-109 years old.

That scene with Bedivere and the Egyptian tourist was completely unplanned by the way. He was out fishing, I saw her, I though “Ooh, she’s pretty, let’s introduce B to her,” and they immediately found each other attractive. It’s fated to be! At some point, I’m going to have those two crazy kids get married and let them roam free at the mercies of SP, but I’m still undecided on when that’ll be. Let me know in the comments: Do you want Bedivere to stick around for a while? Should he take off as soon as this whole “alien arc” is resolved? I’d like to hear your takes on it!

As always, thank you so much for reading/liking/commenting! This blog wouldn’t still exist if it weren’t for you wonderful, wonderful people!

-Mo ❤

Oh, and Catherine recently reached 100,000 LTH milestone, which nets my greedy point-dragon self another point to hoard!

A Quick Update

Hey everyone! It’s been a while since my last update, and since that last chapter was such a cliff hanger, I just wanted to let you all know that I am still working on the next one. Unfortunately, right now there are quite a few important chunks that just have “IDK, shit happens?????” as my only notes, which doesn’t make for great reading. The good news is that I’m writing a lot this semester, so while I will be busy, it should help the creative juices flow freely.

BASICALLY, I’m still alive, the Gallants are still very much on my mind, and thank you all very much for waiting so patiently! Hopefully I’ll manage to pound this next chapter out soon.

Love you all!

-Mo ❤

2.12 A Long Overdue Visit (Or Two.)(Or Three!)

Last time, Bedivere experienced teenage rejection and Catherine had a baby. This time…well.

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Grandma Brienne absolutely adores little baby Karla. I keep catching her autonomously waking the poor kid up to snuggle her.

Which makes it all the more heartbreaking when this happens:

Brienne: In the restroom, of all places? This is wholly undignified.

Grim: Uhhhhh, did I come to the wrong house…?

Brienne: I mean, really, the restroom? I am a woman of class and taste, the universe must be mocking me.

Grim: Oh there you are. Chop-chop spooky, I’ve got another soul to reap in half an hour.

Brienne: Please, I just want a few more days! My granddaughter was just born last night, I want her to have some memory of me!

Grim: Lady, get in the freaking urn already.

Brienne: *sigh* I suppose I should face death with dignity.

Grim: Thank you. And hey, for what it’s worth, being dead doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll never see your grandkid again.

Jared: *sobs*

Grim: And there’s my cue to leave.

The whole family is heartbroken, as much from the shock as her death itself – Brienne had a maxed out age bar, yes, but Jared was 104 and still going strong. Everyone expected him to be the first Grim came for.

Brienne’s grave goes out back next to Faithful’s. Eventually, this little plot under the tree is going to expand into a full-fledged family graveyard, but for now it’s just the founder and her dog.

---

Ismael’s career choice combines with his grief over Brienne’s death in a very odd way. He mourns her, yes, but working with ghosts on a daily basis gives him a different perspective on the afterlife.

Speaking of the afterlife, Sam Sekemoto is going to EXPERIENCE IT if he doesn’t get out of the way of Ismael’s banshee banisher.

---

So, guess what happened purely by chance.

Yup.

An alien came by to visit, and what’s more, she’s actually Bedivere’s mother.

Alien Woman: Did I break it? Why is it excreting fluid?

Bedivere: I’M JUST SO HAPPY TO FINALLY MEET YOU.

Bedivere: Okay, I think I’m alright now. *sniff*

Alien Woman: A lack of ocular leakage is preferred. This unit theorizes that Drone SV-001’s malfunction is caused by its paternally human genetics.

Bedivere: Okayyyy. “Paternally human…” You mean, Jared really is my dad? And you’re, like, an alien right?

Alien Woman: This unit’s species is not of Drone SV-001’s world, yes. As to its genetic donor, individual designations are pointless. This unit does not know of a “Jared,” only the human male pollinated for the purpose of scouting new colonies.

Bedivere: There are whole worlds of therapy I’m going to need after hearing that sentence.

Bedivere: Also, you know you can call me Bedivere, right? That’s my name, not… “Drone whatever-the-hell.”

Alien Woman: Incorrect. Drone SV-001 has been appointed an individual designation by the humans it lives with, but it is a creation of this unit’s species. This unit was sent to remind Drone SV-001 that it is not a true member of the human species, but it did not realize it was this far gone.

Bedivere: Like hell I’m not! I have a family here, people who care about me, so even if I am part asshole-alien, I think I’m still human enough to count! And besides, Ismael told me what you did to my genetics; I’m based on human DNA, right? You just patched some alien over that to make me one of you.

Alien Woman: …The Greater Consciousness did not realize that you were so stupid. I did not realize that you were so stupid.

Bedivere: What happened to “this unit?”

Alien Woman: Shut up.

Alien Woman: I will leave. It is evidently pointless to continue this conversation. But the Greater Consciousness will ensure that your mistakes are corrected.

Bedivere: Yeah, whatever that means.

She teleports back to her hovercraft, and, as quickly as she arrived, she vanishes again. It may have been their only meeting, but Bedivere can’t find it in himself to regret shouting at her.

 

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Bedivere’s birthday happens to fall on Spooky Day, so the family decides to throw a costume party to distract from the gloomy atmosphere. It…doesn’t entirely work.

Catherine: Mom would have been so happy to see Bedivere become a man… *sniffle*

You may remember that a couple of chapters ago we met one of Connie’s teen daughters, Laquita. Her sister Sylvia apparently has a sense of humor.

Sylvia: Hey, family solidarity, right?

Bedivere: Um. Are you sure you weren’t just feeling lazy about picking a costume?

Sylvia: I mean, that too.

Sylvia: YEAH, YOU GO ALIEN UNCLE! WHOOOO!

Bedivere: Oh god.

Meanwhile, in the next room…

Ismael: Oh, not again.

Tiff: Finally. You have any idea how long I’ve been sticking around these losers waiting for you to show up?

Grim: Hey, look at it this way. You’re badass enough to pass on on sim-Halloween!

Grim: Now go fetch!

Tiff: I know you’re just trying to distract me so I won’t bite your face off.

Grim: And yet, it still works.

Ismael: I’m going to miss you Tiff, you crazy, hyper-violent dog!

Bedivere: I’m so SAD, this is the WORST BIRTHDAY EVER!

Jared: Wow. I’m actually surprised that happened. She was so old I was starting to think she was immortal.

Bedivere&Ismael: CAN YOU PLEASE NOT.

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Another thing that happened purely by chance…

Ismael’s not sure why he’s running outside.

The lights flashing above the front yard are fascinating, but the compulsion to stare at them isn’t his own.

Ismael: Oh, no.

Ismael: Oh, goodness me.

Ismael: THIS IS VERY WORRYING.

---

Yeah, I don’t know either.

POOR BEDIVERE

This kid just cannot catch a break. He gets rejected, his mom dies, he meets his biological mom, she’s a jerk, and then his dog dies at his birthday party.

Speaking of Bedivere’s birthday, he rolled the Proper trait, making his full personality Disciplined, Loves the Cold, Neat, Angler, and Proper. He’s like a butler crossed with an ice-fisherman. Oh, and his LTW is Perfect Private Aquarium, because I don’t plan on turning him into a scientist/martial arts champion.

I’m very sad to see both Brienne and Tiff go, especially so close to one another! Tiff has had her age bar maxed-out for over two weeks, but Brienne had barely ticked over. 😦 That’s the Sims for you, I guess. Jared is now…106? 107? Really goddamn old, at any rate.

Thank you everyone for being patient, I know this took much longer than anticipated to be finished!

Thanks for reading/liking/commenting!

-Mo ❤

2.11 Baby Fever

Last time, the heiress got married and went on her honeymoon. This time, BABIES. And Bedivere fails at romance.

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After returning from their honeymoon, Catherine almost immediately has a midnight puke session. And we all know what that means!

…And no, there’s no tiberium in her inventory.

Catherine: So, I’m probably pregnant.

Brienne: My dear, that’s wonderful news! We shall have to set you up with a nursery, I’m sure Bedivere would be happy to move into Eleanor’s old room, and then you’ll be right next door to the baby. Oh, and I suppose we must get the old crib out of storage…

Catherine: Mm-hm. You might also want to think about not wearing your underwear everywhere, unless you want to scar the little guy for life.

Brienne: Don’t be medieval, child.

---

Speaking of babies, El gave birth to a baby boy! His name is…

…Joe.

Way to be anticlimactic El, jeez. The family tree panel tells me that he’s grumpy, but also good like his dad. Here’s hoping I remember him often enough to include him in the story!

---

Judging by that stupid cross-eyed expression, Catherine’s either just aged-up or about to grow a baby bump. And her birthday isn’t for another week.

Yup.

Catherine: Am I happy or do I have a facial twitch? We just don’t know.

---

Grandma and Grandpa get to work readying themselves for the next generation.

Brienne finally retires, much to the disappointment of the SVPD. She’s been their best agent for years, but there’s only so long a woman with a full age bar can stay on call for emergencies, especially when there’s about to be a baby in the house.

Jared has been retired for a while, but he starts putting his fancy fridge and 10th level cooking to use stocking up on meals for future generation. He’s over 100 by now, and Grim really could come for him at any moment.

---

Of course, the parents-to-be are celebrating too, in their own way.

Oh, you crazy kids.

---

Catherine had a wish to get a massage, so I sent her down to the local Day Spa. While she was there, she bought into a partnership, and went further into town to buy out the bookstore(which was promptly renamed Catherine’s Book Nook). The Gallants don’t have enough funds yet to buy out the Day Spa, but that’s next on the real estate agenda.

---

 

Aw, look at her! So psyched about being a mama. She rolled a wish for a boy, and Ismael rolled a wish for a girl, so I’m not bothering to influence the gender either way.

Bedivere: Oh wow, I think I can hear it!

Catherine: I should hope so, considering how your ear is inside my stomach.

---

A typical day in the Gallant household. Brienne ignoring her phone, Catherine and Ismael sucking face, Tiff begging for food, and Bedivere cheerfully ignoring all of it. Jared is just off-screen dancing in his underwear, probably.

---

Jared’s mean-spirited trait is really starting to make itself felt, unfortunately. Before, everyone was occupied with either work or skilling, but since Brienne is retired, Catherine can’t ride Danger while pregnant, and Ismael’s still on vacation from getting married, everyone but Bedivere is free for him to harass at all hours of the day. And, because his mean interactions pop up autonomously, I have to constantly keep an eye on him when he’s talking to family.

Even with my intervention, Jared’s relationship with his family has taken a serious hit, and it requires some thinking outside of the box to fix.

Ismael: Er, is this the “shovel talk,” sir? I mean no disrespect, but I’m afraid it’s a little late for that…

Jared: Nah, don’t worry about it kid. Catherine doesn’t trust me to have a conversation with you unsupervised, because I keep, “Shouting for no reason,” and, “Tearing the family apart,” so instead we’re gonna sit here, real quiet like, and play some video games.

It works surprisingly well; by which I mean, Jared doesn’t have a chance to start shouting or insulting his son-in-law’s mother. By those standards, it’s 100% better than any of their past interactions!

The same trick works pretty well with Brienne too, which is nice. Unfortunately, his relationship with Catherine has drained almost entirely, so she’s going to require some hands-on socializing.

---

Speaking of hands-on socializing…

Bedivere doesn’t normally hang out with other kids from school, but he was invited over to Kiley Alvi-Alto’s house today and decided to go with it. She may be an Alto, but her mom Holly was disowned when she left home to marry Miraj Alvi, so she’s probably good people.

However, she has to got to work almost the minute they arrive at her place, which begs the question of why she even invited him over in the first place. Still, he might as well stay and do homework with her sister Chanel. Who, now that he’s looking, is actually pretty cute, inasmuch as anyone with both Alvi and Alto genes can be cute.

Asking her star sign goes over well, and they’re even compatible!

…But she has a boyfriend. Who is sort of Bedivere’s cousin.

(Well, Bedivere’s cousin Deshaun’s son Raul, but what’s the difference.)

Being a teenager is tough, buddy.

---

When the time comes for the baby to be born, Catherine and Ismael handle it with characteristic dignity and decorum.

Ismael: OH GOD OH NO OH GOD!

Catherine: AAAHHH THIS HURTS WORSE THAN MY SADDLE SORES!

Ismael: Wait, why are you driving? Shouldn’t the one not in labor be behind the wheel?

Catherine: Honey, if I trusted you not to drive us into a lamppost I might consider it. Maybe.

They run into some famous faces at the hospital.

Bella Goth: Oh look, the Gallant heiress! How do you do!

Shut up. You named your daughter Raven Goth, you don’t get to talk to this family.

A few short hours later, little Karla Gallant is brought into the world! She’s named after Boris Karloff, a famous actor best known for playing Frankenstein’s monster in the original 1931 film. Her traits are grumpy, like her cousin Joe, and perceptive. A future P.I., methinks? In any case, as I’ve said, babies in the Sims bore me, so you won’t be seeing much more of her until she’s aged up. *shrug*

---

 

Sorry about the delay, I rewrote this chapter about 3 different times and I’m still not 100% happy with it. *shrug* Oh well!

The fun thing about having a self-employed sim is that you don’t have to worry about time off or weekends getting in the way of earnings. The not-fun part is that if you’re kept from your job (like the way pregnant sims can’t ride horses) you have no way to move your job meter up. *pout* So Catherine’s been stuck the past little while with a bunch of big wishes to get promotions in her career, that I had no way of filling. I’ll have to bear that in mind in the future.

I’ve only played a few days ahead of this point, but it’s at least a chapter’s worth of material, so the next update should be out pretty soon.

Karla’s birth is the first of Generation 3, which gives me a point, and Brienne recently bumped over the 200,000 LTH milestone, which gives me another point.

Thank you for reading/liking/commenting!

-Mo ❤

Points: 14

2.10 Sand In Unmentionable Places

Last time, El got hitched and Catherine proposed. This time, another wedding, family gossip, and a sandy honeymoon.

---

Guess what today is.

Catherine: AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH I’M SO EXCITED AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH

Go on, guess.

Ismael: Hmm, it seems locating stars is difficult when the sun is out…

Bro. Priorities.

Did you guess yet? Yup, it’s the day of Catherine and Ismael’s wedding.

Fortunately today’s weather is much better than the last time a wedding was held, so Catherine gets to show off both her race track and her fancy wedding gown. Brienne didn’t need to fight her over suitable wedding attire: Catherine already had a customized dress all picked out and decorated in her favorite color(sea foam).

As the guests start arriving, I took the opportunity to check out what’s been happening in the family tree.

Here we see cousin Deshaun (Connor’s son with Molly French) and El’s childhood friend Cheri, Agnes Crumplebottom’s daughter with Xandel Clavell. They’ve been married for a while now, and have a teenage son named Raul. Raul was not at the party because no one in the house has ever met him.

El shows up, heavily pregnant, but who’s that teen behind her?? A quick dig through the family tree panel shows that she’s Connie’s daughter Laquita. And she has a twin sister named Sylvia.

Laquita: Yeah, I kinda bullied Mom into letting me come along. She doesn’t really like this part of the family.

Jared isn’t sure how to interpret the news that his eldest daughter never contacted him about his granddaughters.

😥

In retrospect, this does explain the number of “Boast about Grandchildren” wishes he’s been rolling up. He knew, even when he didn’t really know.

Here you’ll notice that Connor is sobbing over the death of Tori Kimura: His first wife Molly died a long time ago, and he remarried Leo’s mom. Which means that El married her uncle’s stepson.

Every legacy has at least one marriage to someone very closely related or already somehow a part of the family tree, but I think that might be an all-time earliest case of a marriage that’s uncomfortably close to incest. I mean, Generation 2? Jeez.

Ismael’s dad Ethan VanWatson-Bunch is there to sob his heart out, copying Jared’s style. Ismael’s mom Madison unfortunately got tied up with her work as an important military official, but Ethan’s retired from being a doctor and has no obligations to keep him from his son’s wedding.

Ethan: Why couldn’t my son have been a normal, medicine-loving genius like me? Instead he married into the local weirdo family and started working as a ghost hunter. Now I’m standing next to a green kid surrounded by the smell of manure! Where did I go wrong?!

Tiff: Can I pleeeeease maul one of these losers?

No.

Tiff: Pretty please?

NO.

Dopy wedding face strikes again.

Catherine: Durrr

The bride and groom suck face, and everyone melts at the cute.

El: Ugh, is this the same cake from my wedding?

Catherine: Mm-hmm. If you hadn’t run off as soon as you tied the knot, maybe you would’ve gotten to eat it fresh.

Deshaun: Or, you could have thrown out the old one and gotten a fresh one.

Jared, wherever he is: I baked that damn cake, you ungrateful brats are gonna damn well eat it.

Catherine carefully avoids eye-contact with Deshaun. She remembers him ranting at her about unicorns as a teenager, which in light of recent events seems pretty suspicious. She makes a mental note to talk to him soon.

---

Umm. You two know this isn’t your bed, right?

…

You guys?

*sigh* And so, Catherine and Ismael’s wedding was celebrated in El’s bed. Because they just couldn’t wait to go upstairs to their own. *headdesk*

---

For their honeymoon, they head out to beautiful Al Simhara, because golden sands are romantic or something. (Also because Catherine has had a mission there to hunt down some flame fruit since she was a teen.)

 

Catherine: What in plumbob’s name are you wearing.

Ismael: It’s adventuring gear, dear! If I join you in investigating ancient tombs, I really should dress the part, no?

Ismael: My, this is exciting!

Catherine: Just…don’t touch anything, all right? These places are always full of hidden traps, you’d probably end up fried.

Ismael: Of course! I wouldn’t dream of doing otherwise!

Ismael, immediately touching something: Ooh, I wonder if there’s a mummy in here?

I swear, the man has the self-preservation instincts of a lemming.

A blissfully unaware Catherine investigates the rest of the pyramid. She’s hunting down some special glowing fruit that MorcuCorp wants to use in some sort of propulsion drive.

Ismael isn’t sure how exactly that would work, but he’s fascinated with finding out.

Mission completed, they decide to spend the night in their tent, instead of going back to base camp, because it’s exciting or something.

Ismael: Ooh, what’s this?

Ah hell.

Fuck.

Ismael: Dum de dum, what’s this? Oh, another relic to add to the collection.

Mummy: WHO DARES INTERRUPT MY SLUMBER

Ismael: Oh gosh this is SO COOL! I want to take a sample!

Like I said, the man’s a lemming.

Mummy: YOU! YOU SHALL PAY FOR THIS, WEAK MORTAL! I DEMAND A TITHE!

Ismael: Oh my. On second thought, maybe I am filled with mortal terror.

Thankfully, the mummy seems only interested in a candy in Ismael’s pocket, which it promptly swipes.

Mummy: THIS CHOCOLATE SNACK IS VERY TASTY. YOU MAY LEAVE WITH YOUR LIFE.

Ismael: Well, that was irritatingly anticlimactic. If he had killed me it would’ve been one hell of a way to go out.

Just be glad I had the foresight to give you a mummy snack, 0 martial arts skill man.

To wrap up the honeymoon, I gave them a day to do whatever they want at base camp. In typical newlywed fashion, they want to spend all their time sighing and staring into one another’s eyes.

*rock-a-bye baby plays*

And…*clears throat*…some other things.

---

 

I swear, this family’s issues multiply every time I open the game. The revelation that Jared has unknowingly been a grandfather was both depressing and heartwarming. :’)

At least the wedding went as planned. No surprise elopement, no spontaneous fires, no constant miserable rain with shitty, shitty lighting… Really, what else can a Simmer hope for?

I realized as I was writing this chapter that the honeymoon portion was kind of focused on Ismael, which I didn’t intend. But, Catherine basically spent the whole time fulfilling adventuring wishes and doing missions, which everyone with WA has already played themselves, so I didn’t see the point in documenting it. *shrug*

This chapter is dedicated to LivvieLove, who recently came back from her own honeymoon! CONGRATULATIONS GIRL!!!!! Just for you, here’s a pic of your favorite badass dog:

AAAAHHHHHHH KILL IT! KILL IT WITH FIRE

(Or, you know. Badass glitch.)

Thank you all for reading!

-Mo ❤

2.9 Oh Right, This Is A Legacy Challenge

Last time, Catherine had a bizarre and disturbing dream conversation with a glowing horse about her green alien brother. Somehow she wasn’t high at the time. This time, run of the mill legacy nonsense.

---

Catherine isn’t sure what she did in a past life to deserve this family, but she’s sincerely sorry for whatever it was.

Catherine: You do all realize this is a vacation, right? As in, leave your work at home?

El: Buzz off little sis, my editor’s been riding my ass and I’m almost done with this chapter.

Bedivere, from the next room where he’s washing dishes: SORRY, WHAT DID YOU SAY?

---

The vacation that wasn’t wraps up, and everyone returns to the land of Mom and her wedding fever.

Brienne and El continue to not see eye to eye on… Well, on anything.

Brienne: You must wear something special for your wedding! If not a gown, then at least some other sort of formal attire! My love, tell her!

Jared: Hmm? Yes, whatever you say, dear.

El: Ohhhhh myyyyyyy goddddddddd.

---

Catherine: Who’s a good widdle horsie! Who’s mama’s widdle baby boy!

Danger: *sigh* I am. I am a good “widdle horsie.”

So badass! We’ve come so far!

Goddammit.

As her horsewoman career progresses by inches, Catherine adjusts her casual outfits to fit her dedication. El applauds her for making the brave decision to switch to jodhpurs.

---

The morning of El’s wedding dawns with her penning the finishing words of her final novel, a soon to be best-seller. A hit. A truly genre-changing piece of literature. Her “pièce de résistance,” if you will.

It’s titled, “Pharma Bro Pounded In The Butt By T-Rex Comedian Bill Murky And A Clan Of Triceratops Rappers Trying To Get Their Album Back.”

Out in the backyard, the two sisters bond, conveniently showing off the new scenery and wedding arch set up in the middle of Catherine’s race track. (I’m very proud of it.)

El compromised with Brienne on her wedding dress by wearing something that is technically formalwear, but is also technically the kind of thing you’d see in the club.

The entire extended family and friends shows up to clog up the front door in the dismal pouring rain. Also Morgana Wolff is there for some reason? You can see her mourning her dead husband in the hydrangeas.

Brienne recognizes her as one of the crazy women who crashed her adult birthday party way back when, but politely says nothing.

Leo: I am so blessed to be marrying this wonderful woman.

El: Ughh, can’t I just go paint or something?

This beautiful moment is brought to you by the terrible rainy-day lighting of Sims 3 Seasons.

From left to right: Bedivere, Brienne, Cheri(El’s friend from high-school and Deshaun’s wife), Catherine, Leo and El Gallant, Morgana the party-crasher, cousin Deshaun, uncle Connor, Ismael, and Jared. Connie was invited but never showed up 😦

Not that the family seems to mind.

El: Oh hey, is that the plumber over there? Mad awkward, bro.

The happy couple waits only long enough to wave goodbye before they both sprint off towards the street.

Apparently, they had planned a quick getaway by cab. I – I didn’t realize that moving someone out during marriage meant that they immediately left their own wedding party.

Uhh…Whoops?

Ismael: Quick, while they’re all distracted by the runaways, let’s make out!

Morgana: Don’t mind me. Just standing right next to you. Minding my own business. It’s like I’m not even here.

Morgana: BOOHOO IT’S ALL OVER SO SOOOOOOON

Things have been way too hectic recently – between El’s wedding, their careers, and whatever the hell is going on with Bedivere, Catherine and Ismael haven’t had much time to themselves. All the same, they’ve been planning on marriage since they graduated from high school, and Catherine decides that it’s high time she got a move on with this whole “family legacy” shtick.

Morgana: WAAAH I WISH I HAD LOVED HIM MORE WHILE I COOUUUUULD

Catherine: Sooo, whadya say we make this thing official?

Ismael: Heck yes, I am so ready to be a kept man!

What a couple of dorks.

---

Catherine + various priceless archeological artifacts looted from China. Because she’s classy like that.

---

Because of his job, Ismael gets to see a lot of the familial chaos that afflicts this town.

On this particular night, he’s called in to deal with a poltergeist problem at the Landgraab mansion. Except, it’s not called the Landgraab mansion anymore – that blond fellow behind him is Malcolm Mae, recent new husband to the incredibly elderly Zelda Mae. Ismael has the distinct impression that the spirits he’s exorcising might be the furious spirits of Malcolm’s deceased parents.

Later that night he gets called in to the household of Malcolm’s ex-wife, Iliana Langerak (now Iliana Landgraab), who’s currently living in a tiny one-bedroom house with their children. Those girls in the foreground are their teenage and toddler daughters.

Ismael: You know what, I just don’t want to know.

---

When El asked Brienne out for lunch at the Bistro, this was honestly the last thing she was expecting.

No pun intended?

Brienne: That was…much faster than I anticipated.

El: Eh. You know how it is. One minute, you’re getting that sweet, sweet nookie, and the next you’re hearing rock-a-bye baby and rolling wishes to read maternity books.

---

While his family experiences the drama of love and childbirth, Bedivere throws himself into the martial arts he learned in China. It’s very calming, even if there is a creepy laundry gnome in time-out in the corner.

If it seems like Bedivere is a little anti-social, it’s because he is. H ehasn’t made a single friend who he isn’t related to in some form or fashion.

At prom, not only is he the best dressed guy there, he’s also the only sim I’ve ever had who ended prom as single as they were when they went in. Not that he seems to care.

He just starts a family garden. With the same creepy gnome.

What.

---

For those of you Tiff-lovers out there, fear not! The old girl is as spry and cranky as ever!

Even if she does let mailmen escape these days.

---

Alright, have a little break from the serious stuff. Here’s some of your regularly scheduled Gallant nonsense!

The Landgraab-Mae family might win the award for “Even Weirder Than The Local Legacy Family, Somehow,” which would be quite the accomplishment for townies! Rich people, man.

Letting El go was HEARTBREAKING, but she’s getting to be middle-aged and I want to leave her to the mercies of StoryProgression set her free before she gets any older. 😦

By finishing that last book, she bumped her writing skill up to level 10, completing her LTW to be an Illustrious Author, which in turn bumped her LTH over 100k, which nets me 2 points in one go! Holla!

Oh, and disclaimer: All of El’s novels are named after the real-world works of Chuck Tingle. DO NOT look up his name if you’re at work/with your grandma/etc.

Thank you all for reading, following this blog, and commenting!

-Mo ❤

Total points: 12

2.8 Expository Slumber

 

---

Greetings Catherine, daughter of Brienne, of the house Gallant.

We need to talk.

“…I remember you. Why do I remember you?”

We met, once. It was some time ago, by your reckoning.

“The lake…I thought that was a dream. It wasn’t real.”

And why should it being a dream make it any less real? But I digress. I have important matters to discuss with you.

“Right. So ‘important’ that you needed to wait almost a decade to tell me about them.”

Do not jest, child.

Your brother is in grave danger.

“Bedivere? But what- Oh no. Oh, no no no no no, I have to go back. You have to take me back now, alright, Mom needs to hear about this, she can protect him-”

Calm yourself. He is in danger, but it is not eminent. For now, the curiosity of his creators outweighs their need to protect themselves.

“Protect themselves? From Bedivere?! You’re kidding me, right?”

I will explain, in due time. First, observe our surroundings. Do you recognize this place?

“Um, yeah. It’s the circle of standing stones, right? It was an old ritual site, centuries before SimNation was founded. People call it Sim Henge these days.”

‘Sim Henge.’ How quaint. Rituals were held here, yes-

-but they were for a very specific purpose, tied to the nature of the circle itself. There are countless similar circles, spread across existence. Each serves as a gateway…

…and if one has the right key, they are capable of using that gateway, exiting through the other side at another such circle.

“Oh.”

Precisely. Stay on my back, child. Only one of my kind can set foot here without cost.

“Where are we? I haven’t heard of a desert like this before.”

That is because we are not on your world. To be more accurate, we are not even in your reality.

“…What.”

This is the landscape of another dimension. Appreciate the view: you are the first of your kind to ever lay eyes on it.

“Okay. Note to self, freak out about that later. Right. So, is this where Bedivere’s…’people’ come from?”

In a way.

“…Do you have an answer that isn’t irritatingly cryptic?”

Perhaps.

“Fantastic. Could you at least tell me why you’re showing me this?”

Look at this world, child. What do you see?

“Sand. Weird, spiky rock formations, a few abandoned buildings. More sand.”

And what do you not see?

“…People.”

There is no life on this world. You can comb it from topsoil to core, observe every nook and cranny, and you will find no movement, no change, not a single living being. 

“That’s awful. Then, the aliens are running from whatever did this?”

Hardly. 

Their biology is very different from what your science tells you is possible. The beings of this world are not, in fact, beings: rather, they are one being, one consciousness, split into hundreds of individual bodies. Each pair of hands acts independently, but the mind which governs them is singular. And that mind hungers constantly. 

“You’re telling me they ate everything on this planet?”

I am telling you that a being of psychic energy draws on living energy to feed itself. I am telling you that such a being would expand constantly, increasing its appetite as it does so. I am telling you that such a being, with no limits or restraints, would suck a world dry, and leave it a barren wasteland. And then it would sit there, in the empty desert of its own creation, and slowly starve. 

“And then what?”

Come. There is something else I need to show you.

“Oh. Another weird, gravity-defying alien planet. How wonderful.”

This is the first place the creatures existed, and the first to be drained by their presence.

“But, the desert-”

Was one of many to follow. They cannot access the gateways as I can, but they have technology which allows them to step between dimensions to reach new colonies. Like our world.

“You know, I still don’t know why you’re telling me this. Mom would at least have some way of contacting the government to stop them.”

Oh, child.

I have already ‘stopped’ them. My kind have enveloped the energy of the world in a magical bubble, one which even the creatures cannot break. I tell you this because you must know just what it is you are dealing with. 

Every world they visit, they first scout. Because all of their kind share awareness of what each other sees, the simplest method is to simply implant a fetus in a creature of that world. 

But, different worlds have different atmospheres, gravitation, food sources, and so on. In order to ensure that the child survives, they take a sample of the host DNA and adapt it to suit their needs. As an added bonus, the child is never fully one of their own, and so is incapable of accessing the psychic energy at the heart of the species. They can be observed, but pose no threat to the Greater Consciousness. 

I suppose they never took into account just how contrary humans can be.

“So my brother is one of these…scouts?”

I believe they are called drones, but yes.

“And because he’s based on human DNA, he can pull energy from the ‘Greater Consciousness.'”

And now you understand. They are quite terrified of him, I must say. Generations upon generations of the same methods, on world after world, and now things have begun to spiral outside their control.

“What are they going to do?”

I am not entirely sure, but I doubt that it will be pleasant. That is why I have approached you now – I can extend my protection to cover him, even if he is not entirely of this world, but I require a favor of you.

“Riiiight, because that’s not suspicious at all.”

Have your kind not always trusted unicorns as creatures of purity and goodwill?

“You mind-wiped me when I was ten, I think ‘purity’ is out the window at this point!”

I swear upon my name, human, I have no ill intent towards you or your family. I will protect your brother until the day he dies, if you protect something of mine until that same day.

“That sounds suspiciously simple. What would I be protecting?”

You will find out when the time comes. Do we have a deal?

“You do realize how uncomfortable it is to accept a deal that vaguely worded, right?”

What matters to you more, Catherine Gallant? Your comfort, or your brother’s life?

“…”

“…Alright. I accept your deal.”

---

 

 

…Whoops?

I swear, I didn’t mean for that to be as much of an info dump as it was, but it all needed to be said. (It’s quite possible that I’m going to go back and edit the hell out of this, but I’ve been staring at it on my laptop screen for the past few hours, so I’m publishing it anyway.)

The worlds used in this chapter are Broken World by Nowa 2000 and Teta 5120 by Marie. All credit goes to them!

Again, let me know if I’m being confusing and I’ll be happy to go back and edit to be clearer. Thank you for reading!

-Mo ❤

2.7 I Got This Feeling Like, Somebody’s Watching Me~

Last time, there was a ton of fake science and discussions of matrimony. This time, Gen 2 goes to China, and there’s even more fake science.

---

Generally, I like my sims to be able to do whatever they want on vacation, but no sooner does Catherine arrive in China than her wish box starts filling up with adventure-related wishes.

You are not Indiana Jones!

Catherine: That’s what you think.

Catherine: Ohmygawdsecretstaircase

I see you’re as smooth as ever.

Catherine: Let me have this.

Catherine: Secret staircase, activate!

Catherine: Work, damn you!

Catherine: Ooh, this will look great in my photo album!

---

While the heiress goes through an adventuring emotional rollercoaster, her siblings set out to explore the foreign city.

Bedivere has been going through a huge amount of stress lately, and the zen meditations of martial arts seemed like a good way to unwind. Kicking the shit out of a wooden dummy works too, he guesses.

Bedivere: Stupid, *ugh* freak, *hurk* genetics!

El, meanwhile, beelines for the local market. She’s made a hobby out of collecting random crap, and she’ll be damned if she misses out on a prime opportunity for some random knick-knacks.

Ismael has been using this vacation to read up on all the scientific articles he normally misses out on, but he spares some time to cook dinner for his girlfriend’s family. This would be nicer if it wasn’t his first time cooking ever.

Catherine: Ismael, please tell me you at least have some idea what you’re doing.

Ismael: Not a clue!

Catherine: *sigh* Just, don’t put any weird chemicals in there, alright?

Ismael: Sure thing sweetheart!

---

Shang Simla is so beautiful: One of these days I need to get a computer with an actually decent graphics card so I can properly appreciate it. Until then, enjoy Bedivere’s postcard picture.

Happily, Shang Simla doesn’t have the same rigid curfew laws as SimNation, so Bedivere is free to pursue his fishing hobby at night. What with his lack of need to sleep, and the supply of dried food stashed in his pocket, he hardly ever needs to go back to the base camp.

El: Howdy, stranger. Get any good bites lately?

Bedivere: Mm, you could say that. Mostly koi and stuff though.

Bedivere:…

Bedivere: El, is that…brains?

El: Don’t ask questions you don’t want to know the answers to, little bro.

---

D’aww.

El: Hey, buzz off with that sappy shit! Some of us are being forced to work through this vacation!

(It’s true, I did chain her to her laptop the entire time they were there. She left China with a nearly maxed-out Writing skill though, so I can’t feel too bad about it.)

---

Before they left, I bought Catherine the Lifetime Reward that lets you stay longer on vacations, so she actually gets quite a few beginner missions completed. Eventually, she gets contacted for the Dragon’s Cave questline.

Catherine: Just running up to an old, smoking cave in the middle of nowhere because some creepy mysterious guy asked me to explore it through a cryptic phonecall. No big deal.

Catherine: Hidden ancient palaces with somehow not-rotted wooden floors? Whatever.

Secret libraries behind hidden doors? I call that Tuesday.

Catherine: EWWWW OH MY GOD A BUG GET IT OFF GET IT OFF GET IT OFF

Catherine: Alright, keep it together girl, just one more room.

Catherine: Guh.

Once she’s done looting the place bare(because after all, that’s what archaeologists DO, right?), she heads back to her employer.

Catherine: Ma’am, the next time you want to know what’s in a tomb, you can check out the bug-infested hellhole yourself.

---

The first chance the sisters gets to catch up, and a random fellow-tourist decides to awkwardly join them. Typical.

Creeper: Laaadies~!

Late one night, while everyone else is conked out from studying/writing/plundering tombs, Bedivere has another…episode. This one is much like the first, but he feels a bit more in control of himself.

Instead of laying pliantly back while a strange force pokes and prods at his mind, he reaches out, and, for lack of a better word, pokes back. Immediately, the force withdraws, leaving him with the unnerving feeling of having startled a large and dangerous creature.

The second Ismael is up, Bedivere goes to him for advice.

Bedivere: So, what do you think?

Ismael: Hmm. Well, the thought of a psychic link had occurred to me, but I want to test something first. You remember my stimulus response test?

Bedivere: You mean that thing where you throw something at me to see if I flinch? How could I ever forget.

Ismael: The sarcasm is unnecessary, Bedivere. Alright, 1, 2-

Ismael: 3!

Bedivere flinches back automatically, of course, but instead of the rubber duck smacking into his face, he’s surprised to see it hovering in the air between them.

Bedivere: What.

Ismael: Oh my. I didn’t really expect that to work, to be honest.

Ismael: It would appear that this force making contact with your mind is what powers your abilities, or at least that you are drawing power from it in some way. My working theory is that your genetic modifications were intended to allow it to oversee you, but judging by the reaction you described when you attempted to reciprocate, it was intended to be a one-way connection.

Bedivere: …Can you please, please simplify that.

Ismael: Ah, yes, my apologies. I got a little carried away there. Think of it like…a webcam.

Bedivere:…A webcam. Really?

Ismael: Bear with me. You set up this webcam to watch over someone inside a room. You expect that only you will be able to see the other person, since after all the webcam is a one-way device. Then you look up and realize that somehow, they can see you through the webcam as well, and moreover they are hijacking your wifi connection to surf SimGoogle.

Bedivere: So you’re saying that I’m being watched on a psychic camera.

Ismael: Not constantly, no. Most likely whatever it is is simply keeping an eye on you for now, monitoring your vitals and general emotional state to make sure you’re in good health. But if you are a – a science experiment, of some sort, it would make sense that whoever created you would want a way to observe their results. Of course, this is all just a theory.

Bedivere: Okay. Okay, okay, okay, okay. Let’s just, umm, assume that that theory is correct. Who would the “they” be? The government, or something?

Ismael: Bedivere, I am so sorry, but I honestly have no idea.

---

As they speak, Catherine’s body lies in her bed in Shang Simla, deep asleep. Her mind, however, is somewhere very, very different.

There is a crackling surge, like a static shock upped a few times, and in a flash of burning light Catherine finds herself astride the familiar form of a horse, breathing in the familiar sea-salt air of Sunset Valley.

Greetings Catherine, daughter of Brienne, of the house Gallant.

We need to talk.

---

 

Cliffhanger enough for you? I’m finally getting to the good stuff, good grief. I really hope I did a decent job explaining what’s going on with Bedivere, at least. *crosses fingers* And hey, Alia’s finally back!

Thank you for reading, leave a comment with what you think, if there’s anything that’s super-confusing to you, if you liked it, etc. This is my first time writing a plotline this involved and complicated, so I’m kind of expecting at least someone to be wondering “WTF is going on right now??” I’m ready to go back and edit the hell out of this chapter if I explained something poorly.

-Mo ❤

2.6 Who You Gonna Call?

Last time, Bedivere hit the weirdest puberty ever, and Ismael agreed to secretly help him figure out what the #%$@ is going on. This time, I B.S. my way through science and the gang goes on vacation.

---

Being a professional Ghost Hunter is basically heaven for Ismael, the nerd. He gets to spend all night running around town in a jumpsuit covered in suspicious stains that he “liberated” from the science facility, flashing lights from his weird doohickey at sentient mist.

He wishes he had time to properly study the spirits he captures, but his ongoing tests on Bedivere leave him with very little time for other projects.

Ismael: Your genetics are truly fascinating, Bedivere. The basis of your DNA is undeniably human, but it’s almost as though someone went through the individual strands and edited certain parts.

Bedivere: Well, yeah. I am a green radiation mutant, remember?

Ismael: But that’s just it! Mutations resulting from radiation are random, and often damaging. What you have is deliberate and precise. I’d almost call it surgical. Moreover, the readings I’m getting from your brainwaves are…unique. Your brain is constantly sending out data, but I can’t tell what or who is receiving it.

Bedivere: So I’m…not a mutant. What am I then, a science experiment?!

Ismael: To put it bluntly, yes. I’ll need to run more tests to see what the changes were meant to accomplish.

Bedivere: …Do it. I’m sick of people lying to me.

---

Ismael and Bedivere both experiment non-stop.

Ismael seems to think that he can engineer something capable of reading whatever is being beamed out of Bedivere’s head. He calls it a “Psychic Transference Analyzer” – Bedivere stopped listening to the details around the time he started quoting mathematic formulas.

His job is to keep practicing with his newfound abilities. Ismael wants to know how much damage he can fix, what his limit is, if the mental impressions he’s getting lessen or increase when he uses his other powers, etc.

---

Because he doesn’t need to sleep, Bedivere is often the only one awake when a ghostly presence visits.

Bedivere: I’m not sure what’s happening right now, but I don’t like it.

Old friends bonding.

---

Ismael only feels a little guilty about not telling Brienne anything. In the midst of preparing for El’s wedding, she seems much calmer about Catherine’s longtime boyfriend, and it would be terrible to ruin that cautious peace because of a few simple tests he’s running on her son. Right?

He pushes that thought aside – that wasn’t what he wanted to talk about with her today anyway.

Ismael: Mrs. Gallant, I know we didn’t get off on the right foot. And I know that you don’t approve of me, or trust that I have Catherine’s best interests at heart. And I know that I’m not a reputable member of the community, and that you have no reason to like me, and-

Brienne: Get to the point, if you please.

Ismael: Right. Er. Well, Catherine and I want to spend our lives together, which would make me a part of your family. The last thing I want to do is create tension between Catherine and you, so if there’s anything I can do to earn your approval… I’ll do it.

Brienne: My dear boy, are you asking for my daughter’s hand in marriage?

Ismael: …Not exactly? More your blessing-

Brienne: Oh, this is excellent! More grandchildren to be had! Neither of my daughters will be spinsters! You will be taking her name, of course? Of course you will. Jared! Come quick! We have another wedding to plan!

---

Catherine: What did you do.

Bedivere: He won over mom is what he did! She’s got babies on the brain, this is basically the best way to get her to like him.

Ismael: I didn’t even say anything! She came up with weddings all on her own!

Catherine: Ugh. I am not staying in a house with my wedding-crazy mother.

Ismael: Well, I hear China is lovely this time of year.

Catherine: Huh. You know, that might actually work.

Jared: Good fucking morning you little punks! Who wants gourmet salmon for breakfast? ‘Cause you’re not getting any! It’s all for me! Muahaha!

Catherine: China definitely works. Bed, grab El, I’m calling the travel agency.

Bedivere: *squee* I’m finally gonna learn how to be a Sim Fu master!

---

And so, the entirety of Generation 2 ended up in poorly rendered Shang Simla.

Damn my computer’s graphics.

This chapter is shorter than usual, but I want all of the vacation nonsense to happen in one chapter, and there was A LOT of nonsense.

Aside from that, I’m just happy that I finally have a storyline worked out for Bedivere. I can’t just have an alien sim and not go into a whole sci-fi subplot surrounding him, you know? In case any of this isn’t clear right now;

1. Brienne, Jared, El, and Catherine all know that Bedivere is an alien of some sort, but no-one outside the household does.
2. The official story is that Bedivere was an adopted victim of a radiation leak, but Ismael’s tests are making that story look very flimsy.
3. No one except Bedivere and Ismael know about these tests.
4. Bedivere is accidentally connecting to some kind of “hive mind,” which was already aware of him but is surprised that he was able to contact it. He can hear it, but not understand it.
5. For whatever reason, Gen 2’s cousin Deshaun is aware of the presence of aliens, and knows or guesses that Bedivere is one.

Aaaand that’s all we know for now. It’s all ~very mysterious~.

Oh, and one last thing:

El finished her self-portrait and Catherine’s portrait, which gives me another 2 legacy points. That brings my total score up to 10.

Thank you for reading! -Mo ❤