Vermachtnis Legacy, Chapter 2By fraulineTaube (originally posted on the Exchange)

Gabi grows up and gets busy, Darcy changes the trash, and the Vermachtnis family moves! Chapter 2!!

This quartet are the good folks of chapter 2 house, a half-way house for recovering kickyball addicts. Unfortunately, we caught them on one of the days they all fell off the wagon.

Anyway!

On with the legacy. When we last left off, Darcy, the gen 2 heiress, had moved home from college with her sweetie, Leo the bartender, and produced a very good-looking heiress (by the name of Gabi) and a very ignored spare (called Gordon, or, Say, is that a baby over there on the floor?).

As you may have noticed, this story comes to you, the reader, out of a sleepy little town called Halcyon River Hills, instead of Pleasantview. That's because the Vermachtnis family picked up everything they owned and moved to this quiet locale, trusting the Bank of Familyfunds to square their financial situation. This was done because the Vermachtnis family are an exceptionally fertile group, and comprised about 30 Sims at the time of the move. Yes, the other children of Asher and Christy Vermachtnis came along, and, though they would no longer recognize their relations, they could at least still be friends with the Sims living in the Vermachtnis home. Their three houses can be seen here in the middle. In the very back of the picture, across the lazy Halcyon River, you can see the estate that will contain the future house of the legacy family. To the left are the first citizens of this township, created as friendship material, and to the right is my cozy little house on the edge of the river.

The neighborhood did not come so neatly populated, however - it took a bit of setting up.

First created were the Sorrens.

Then the Morays. Both families came with plenty of kids to bring home from school, and all teens and above were gainfully employed so as to meet the Vermachtnis family during the work week.

For a change of pace, I deleted all the characters from HRH before I moved anyone in. I thought some fresh faces would be interesting. I then had to generate townies and NPCs with the Tombstone of L&D, but this was not done on the Legacy lot. The Sorrens and Morays were created to provide companionship.

The final residents created especially for HRH were my updated self-Sim, Taube, my fictional Sim-husband, Martin, and our twin daughters Mary and Madison. All set for the Vermachtnis family now!

And, at last, the unruly Vermachtnis family. With several members of the house bringing in big bucks, it wasn't long before the Vermachtnis family was able to build a quaint little country-style condo. It wasn't much, but it was a fine start. Thanks to the ability to put things in their inventory, they did not have to start out dirt-poor, although they made sure that they did not profit on the move.

Hmm, well that's interesting. The cow-plant has been out since this morning, and was, I guess, hungry. But wait, the welcome wagon was here! Which of the unfortunate denizens of Halcyon River Hills has this ungrateful beast gobbled up? (I say ungrateful because this is a visitor, darn it, and loses points for dying on this lot!) Well, let me survey the damage and see who is missing . . .

Oh, Cowplant, say it isn't so! Please tell me you are not belching out the remains of my self-Sim's very own Latin lover, Martin. But alas, I know it is so. Not only is he missing, but the cowplant left another clear sign . . .

Yes, a widow going into aspiration failure on the sidewalk paints a pretty clear picture. Thanks for nothing, Cowplant!

At this point, I stopped playing for a few days because I was so upset with the Vermachtnis family's house warming. And it was all my fault because I had not yet built a fence around that stupid Cowplant! Sigh. Eventually I started again, but I have still not made up my mind about what to do with Martin's tombstone, and have not had the courage to play Taube's house, with only her and the twins. :(

Rest in peace, Martin! Please don't be too mean to my Sims, even though they were not exactly polite to you.

Well, it must be time for a spare's birthday! They couldn't be bothered to clean the kitchen, but at least they put out a cake. Anyway, on with it!

The baby . . . it is sparkling.

And Gordon grows up into a flaxen-haired little troublemaker. Because he is the spare, I decide to let him live a life of ease, free from forced skilling. Faced with the prospect of an unrestrained life, the little tyke instead decides to see if he can soak his mittens or the entire bathroom first.

"Ahem. Hello, uh, daughter."

"Mmm, hello, mother."

These two have practically no relationship, and very little interest in creating one. Darcy thinks about work all the time now, as she works her way up the Athletic track. Gabi, a born daddy's girl, is doing the usual heiress thing of leading a pretty cushy life when she isn't being skilled like mad.

Oh, Christy, what a nasty face. What's wrong?

"This neighborhood - there's something wrong with it."

What? I thought I had done a pretty good job getting it ready for you guys.

"Eh, that's not the problem. Now, let me explain myself, and since you hamper my creative abilities by selling off the musical instruments I constantly want to buy, I will present my views in a photoessay with accompanying tone poem."

Well, I suppose it can't be that much worse than that look.

"Ahem, silence please!"

"I moved into the neighborhood.

A neighborhood like any other.

But something was wrong.Wrrrrooooonnnnngggg-uh"

"This neighborhood

this neighborhood I moved into.

It was not like the others I had knownknown so long agoooooooooo"

"There was a pox on the neighborhood,

this neighborhood where I now make my home

and I knew something had gone horribly wrongoh what's gone so wroooonnnnnnggg?"

"The townies

and the NPCs

that this neighborhood,

my new neighborhood

has generated . . ."

"They are horribly, horribly ugly.

Like a disease.

Like a canker.

Like the blackness of an empty heart that has forgotten how to loooooovvvveee . . ."

"Where, I asked myself

where

where would I find an NPC,

as was my task,

for my granddaughter to marry?

Where?"

"My task was futile,

the wind blew softly by my ears

as I hung my head in shame.

Where have all the beautiful NPCs gone?

Where?"

--a composition by Christy Vermachtnis, an unwell woman

Christy managed to dig up a few that were okay, such as this restauranteur. She wanted to meet as many as possible so that when Gabi developed an interest in boys, she would have several options to choose from. In addition to this fellow, Christy found . . .

a grocery boy . . .

and a vampire. At this point, I was hoping for the grocery boy, because I wanted some variety in the Vermachtnis genetics. I decided to let Gabi decide when she became an adult, by seeing with whom she had the strongest attraction. Only time would tell . . .

Laci and Angel, the wives of gen 2 brothers Dallas and Devon, have been popping out kids nonstop.

However, the move severed their ties with people in other houses, so even through Christy Vermachtnis registers several new grandchildren on her family tree, she does not recognize them as such and receives no aspiration boost from Angel and Laci's toils. Oh well.

"Eek! Oh no, someone (who is not me) set a fire. But, more importantly, do you think the light from the fire makes my way-preggo butt look fat?"

"Maybe if I hide behind this refrigerator no one will notice."

Ahhhhhhhhhh! Now my game is giving me Kennedy Cox's evil twin as a fireman. The NPCs in this neighborhood suck. Let's get away from this house before anything else can go wrong.

Back at the Vermachtnis estate, my sim-Self's late husband, Martin, is making his presence known. He is not a happy ghost. I am positive he is going to scare someone to death. So far, he only picks on nannies, so at least he has good taste.

I claim temporary insanity. You see, Leo really wanted another child, and I really really like the idea of Sim babies, and yeah . . . there really is no good explanation. But here comes baby #3, the spare-to-the-spare, the spare squared, or, my favorite, the super-spare. Reminds me of the phrase super-seniors, you see, because they are not, in fact, super in any way.

And the first-string spare falls asleep in his nursery sitting up, only inches from his crib. Sad. Sorry Gordon. I feel really bad about this because usually I try to be so good to the kids, but I've been trying to run my game faster lately, so there is more autnonomous parenting going on. Christy and Darcy are fairly horrible child-rearers and are probably at this very moment doing something inane, like playing the piano or darts. Asher tends to wander off and I lose track of him. And Leo, who was such a great dad to Gabi, seems to play favorites and clearly ignores Gordon. Asher also seemed to have a favorite and always interacted more with Daisy than the twins. I wonder if I am imagining this, or if Sim parents do have favorites?

I . . . I just don't know anymore. I do know this much, though, if I am ever unsure what Darcy is doing, there is a high probability that she is primping. Such high neat and outgoing points, and she wastes them by doing three or four of these interactions in a row. Sigh . . .

Christy: "Why hello, headmaster. We Vermachtnis people are great at socializing, I bet you'll just love us!"

Headmaster: "Yes, but where do you keep the opiates?"

Literal picture translation:Headmaster: "Hmm, your bosom is lacking in pertness. It makes me unhappy with you."Christy: "I find your comment off-putting, and am equally unhappy with you."

Uh-oh. Even Christy can't schmooze him. This isn't going to be . . . one of "those" . . . headmaster visits, now is it?

Oh yes, I'm afraid it is. Hardcore.

Headmaster: "Oh my goodness, this bathroom is amazing! Why, the idea of picking every single thing in the bathroom from the same color palette? Truly the work of genius! And not only that, it is clean. How do you do it?"

I always take headmasters through the bathrooms. They're so tiny, all it takes is a nice toilet and tile, really, and their room score is huge. The tour scored the maximum.

Moments later, that pristine bathroom looks like this. Well, of course you're stinky, Gordon, you just befouled an entire bathroom with sewage using only your mightly splashing skills.

And dinner. So far, things were going well.

Asher: "I really wish a burglar would come around. I heard there's some hot male ones in this neighborhood."

Christy: "Great idea, dear! Then he can meet our dear granddaughter, and fall madly in love, and have a dream date and . . ."

This end of the table does not produce as much stimulating conversation as the elders. Oh, and Gabi still has two neat points. Have not encouraged her yet. Darcy is exhausted and is caught in the immediate moments preceding a pork chop faceplant.

Thanks to Gabby McGabster and his wife Chatty Cathy, the headmaster didn't finish his dinner in time, and did not receive the score for the lovely meal! Additionally, he hates everyone in the family and got no schmooze points. For the first time ever, a headmaster has left one of my Sims' houses without offering admission. Darcy, the one who wanted Gabi's admission in the first place, seems to be taking it better than I expected, but that is only because she is dreaming that she is receiving a mashed potato facial.

Oh, this was such a bad idea. This will make seven - SEVEN - people in the house and I have absolutely no use for this baby. Grrrrrrrr.

Asher: "Barf. My granddaughter smells rank."

Well of course she does, she's a little slob. Just breathe through your mouth and keep encouraging her! Asher eventually gets her up to about 8 or so in neatness. I really don't like slobby Sims.

Oh, hey, look, Gordon grew up. Barely caught it.

And time for the super-spare to be born. Gabi and Gordon are excited. Me? Not so much.

The baby is a boy named Gage, and the only child to inherit Darcy's hair color.

Gabi: "Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! Birthday time! Time to pay attention, all your attention, to me, the lovely birthday girl."

Gordon: "And this is different from everyday how?"

Quite the little shindig there. They've even got pancakes, and what party is complete without pancakes. Gage is squalling in the living room, where someone dumped him.

"Hee hee, this tickles. Pancakes, don't let me down!"

Oh boys, are you ready for this? Gabi is in business as a pleasure Sim with a lifetime want to be top of the culinary career, and more immediate wants to monopolize all the hot date spots.

"Oh, hee hee, you caught me. That's right, its me, Gabi Vermachtnis, practicing the fine art of primping. Primping is an essential part of being the most-wanted teen. What, you say, its not second nature for you to be as faaaaabulous as me? Oh, let me give you some pointers."

"A little bit of attitude goes a long way, boys and girls. Remember to combine a come-hither glance with a slight eye-roll, for maximum 'tude."

"Of course, it doesn't hurt to be stunningly attractive, not that I am. What, you think I'm pretty? Oh, that's so nice of you.

Say it again, please?"

"So remember, to be the ultimate teen princess, just be yourself, especially if yourself is me. Now please excuse me, somewhere there is a bubble bath with my name on it."

Well, its good to see dementia hasn't gotten the best of Christy yet.

Ahhhhh! She's still primping. If I even included half the pictures I have of Darcy primping, this album would be way too long to upload. And those pictures that I have are not even an accurate testament to the frequency of the primping, because even I got tired of taking pictures of it after a while.

"Hey, grandma, join us! Its time for a multi-generational Smustle. Because I am a pleasure Sim and a particularly puerile one at that, and one can only take so many baths and have so many pillow fights in one day! You know you want to, old lady!"

Darcy: "Geez mom, you could have just said no."Gabi: "I didn't know grandma knew words like that."

"Matchmaker, matchmaker, make me match . . . dum de dum . . ."

"Don't ever sing that again."

"Fine. But really, conjure up a hot boy already. I don't know any teens and I am just going to die if I don't have a date."

Aww, the matchmaker did a nice job and conjured up another Pleasure Sim, one of the Sorren boys. This is pretty much the ideal date for two Pleasure Sims, by the way.

Awwww, first kiss went off without a hitch.

Awwwww . . . wait a sec, no awwwww.

"Hey hey, daughter. Whatcha up to? Me, I'm just taking out the trash for the tenth time today. Its the only thing I do really well besides primping."

"Mom? Kinda ruining the mood here."

And someone caught the first dish of lobster made in the house on fire, a dish that was autonomously made for only one person. I think that means this is an official legacy now or something. When do I get my membership card?

*This family is so messed up.*

I wanted a nice pic of Gabi going off to college, but this was the best one. Oh well, it suits them. Gabi got all the skill scholarships and the one for good grades, but I am never patient enough to get enough to count for points. Oddly enough, she wanted to get the Alien Reparations grant, but was, alas, apparently less attractive to the aliens than her beleaugered Uncle Clay.

At college, Gabi gets right to the work of meeting male NPCs. She gets along dandy with this mascot, and I do find them so entertaining (no really! I'm weird like that!) but he has the same strange facial deformity disease that most of the other NPCs have. For your safety and sanity, I have included only pictures in which he is wearing his mask. I don't get it. Most of the females are nice looking, but the male NPCs here are just butt ugly.

Except for this guy. This is Jesse Depiesse, a former paperboy that Gabi met and took an instant liking to.

Trying to reconnect with some of the NPCs Christy had introduced her to as a girl, Gabi found that some were just a little too excited about her recent maturation.

Gabi decided to start a Greek house. Her mother had started one back at Sim State, but, thanks to the move, Gabi would never be able to attend. So, to keep up the tradition, she got herself a lot with her scholarship money and set to work pledging friendly Shanna here.

Hee, this girl's hair is the exact same color as her shirt. She walks by the house at least once a day, but I never greet her because it warms my heart so just to see her walk by.

Shanna: "Gabi, I have just had a startling realization!"Gabi: "Mmmhmm, yes, what?"Shanna: "I think you just pledged me so I could write your term papers for you."Gabi: "Oh, don't be ridiculous, you're also quite good at making influenced meals."

Gabi gets to know Llama boy a little better. They had a nice dream date, right here in the money tree room.

However, he likes her so much better with no makeup and custom hair. Mkay, whatever, just for the date, then we're changing it back.

Finally, Gabi decides to get down to business and invites Jesse over. He is very nice, and I am excited to mix up some of the pale-skinned, light-haired Vermachtnis genes.

Yes, not a bad looking guy, and they have three bolts! The decision is made.

Though he has a crush on her now, Jesse doesn't mind when Gabi says goodbye to her Llama on the side by sucking mask.

However, when she gives Jesse a chaste kiss, the llama, who is almost off the lot, is suddenly offended and realizes from 50 yards away, outside of the house, that Gabi has cheated on him! Gasp, oh noes! He ran back in to slap her, and then left. Well, there go your chances of being in this legacy EVER, mister!

Gabi moves in Shanna to act as her live-in housekeeper, cook, and money tree plucker . . . I mean, roommate.

Jesse cannot resist the lure of the Romancin' Money Tree room, and also agrees to move in. He is a romance Sim with a very temperate personality and a lifetime want to be the top of the athletic career. He and Gabi are cah-razy about each other, even though, being Pleasure and Romance, they each have their own little dishes on the side.

Presenting . . . the finest Greek house Academie Le Tour has ever seen, the future residence of all Vermachtnis heirs . . . Urele Ara Hoh, named in honor of the enterprising couple that would be the first to live in its hallowed halls.

Its a modest house, but with room for later expansion and boasts a nice party deck.

Bizarrely enough, Jesse rolled up a want to get engaged to Gabi on one of their dates. This was an opportunity I could not pass up and so let him propose.

"Hey, congratulations on not being a total freak out about commitment, Jesse!"

Yeah, really, considering he doesn't have a ridiculous lifetime want and HE actually wanted to get engaged, I think I really like this Jesse guy.

"Hmm, I am so proud of myself for finishing your term paper while you play SSX right next to me that I am patting myself on the back."

"That's nice, Mr. No-name Pledge. Say, I have a couple of assignments laying around . . ."

"Hot cha, who's the man?"

Um, well, not you Gabi, but what are you so excited about?

Oh, I see. These two are a little on the frisky side.

Back at the Vermachtnis house, things were, well, a little creepy. Gah, what is it with nannies!

Smart move, Darcy, bring the pregnant vampire lady home in the middle of the afternoon. Gads, as if she's not good enough at running around in the daylight without your help! At least she had the good sense to go home immediately.

Christy: "So that's where we left . . . uh, what's his name again?"Leo: "I think its Gage. Say, what do you think will happen if I toss him into the aurora borealis we have here in the bathroom?"

Well, he'll turn into a poorly dressed toddler, of course. Gage has a cute personality, a little shy and serious but otherwise similar to Gabi and Gordon.

"Oh, hello mother, now that we don't live together we actually want to interact. Isn't that strange?"

"You want to see strange? You arrived right in time for my primping marathon. Garbage take-out runs every hour on the hour."

"So dear, are you getting good grades at Acadmie Le Tour? I know we never got you into that (*$*&*^$@#$ private school as a kid, but with the money we're raking in we at least sent you to a good college."

"Oh mom, I love college. I'm so popular and I have tons of best friends. I'm like, the perfect sorority girl - pretty much exactly the opposite of what you were like back at Sim State."

"And you wouldn't even believe the copious amounts of woohoo I'm getting. Why, I barely have time to influence other people to do my work for me with the insane levels of freak I'm getting on."

"Ahhhh ha ha, woo hoo, that's a good one, dear. You're putting me on right, because you know, I still have ties to the Simmafia and you do have two perfectly fine siblings . . ."

"Oh, and, uh, I forgot to mention, I am preparing studiously for a wonderful career."

"That's my girl!"

Aww, Gage is such a cutie. The great custom content in this pic is from Sim Squirts. I get pretty much all of my baby stuff from there.

"Hmm, Gordon, with my increased levels of smartnessosity from this here Thinking Cap, I have deduced that you are not using the candy machine in the proper way."

"You're hardly one to talk about propriety here, mother. Get dressed for goodness sakes so you can show me how to make viruses!"

And Gage turns into an even cuter kid. His personality and level of ignored-ness remind me a bit of Devon and I started to feel a bit sorry for him.

Time for Gordon's magical transition to teenhood.

He rolls Romance and has a lifetime want to have 20 simultaneous lovers......No...."Please?"NO. You have officially relieved yourself of any chance at heirdom, no matter what Darcy says.

Okay, so you know how I said I felt bad for shy, ignored little Gage? Well then he started talking for the first time (he only got taught potty-training as a toddie) and this kid is beyond bizarre. Asher here is pretty much thinking "WTF? Where did this thing come from?"

I'm with you there, Asher. Gage is like a hyperactive kid with a really overactive imagination and no social skills. He pretty much gets this look anytime he opens his piehole.

Oh, uh, happy birthday Gordon! Doesn't being a spare rock? Anyway, you'll be off to college soon.

Christy!!! No! Just stop it. Don't even think about it - I don't want to see those thought bubbles and that sad face ever again. Look at how uncomfortable you're making Leo.

Gah, these Sims have the laxest definition of incest I have ever seen. It creeps me right out, I tell you.

But apparently Christy is not all that discriminating, and will lust after just about anyone.

Goodbye, Gordon, have a nice looooonnnnngggg time at college! I am sure it will be some of the best minutes of your life. Sorry we don't have a nice parade of people freaking out on the lawn like when Gabi left, but, you know, you're the spare.

"Geez, do you have to remind me? You haven't even given me a personality in this narrative. How do you think that makes me feel?"

The answer to that, dear Gordon, is I don't think of it at all.

"Like, oh my God, not again! Please stop, no one even cares that I have babies anymore! There is something wrong with you."

Sorry Angel, I cannot help myself.

Anyway, that's the end for now. How will Jesse and Gabi's relationship pan out over the next four years of Uni? Can they keep up their philandering ways? What new and exciting trysts will take place in the Forbidden Love Chamber of Money Trees? What will happen to Gordon and Gage? Do you have any idea how unbelievably old Christy and Asher are getting? I am not looking forward to that. Oh, and what will ever happen to Taube and poor deceased Martin? Well, tune in next time for the continuation of the Vermachtnis Legacy, and, as always, thanks for reading!