Vermachtnis Legacy, Chapter 8By fraulineTaube (originally posted on the Exchange)

College, horrible pleasure sims and their horrible dates, more simself romance, and gen. 6!

"Dearly beloved,We are gathered here to say our goodbyes.Here she lies . . .No one knew her worth:the late, great daughter of Mother Earth."

Oops! Sorry, I guess we are not commemorating the death of Bohemia. Rather, this chapter is dedicated to my friend Kristina (also known as thinmintsim 'round these parts) whose Sims game met an untimely end when her computer died.

(Oh, and . . . uh . . . I meant for my simself to also attend the funeral, but I accidently summoned Zaube instead. But hey, who knows better about death than a zombie?)

However, Kristina is smart and has a backup of her game . . . so here's hoping it works! I would be sorely disappointed if I couldn't read more of the Trellis Legacy. Good luck, Kristina!

Anyway, back at Urele Ara Hoh, Max is celebrating the fact that he was chosen heir at both Boolprop and SiMania by a large margin. To recap, Max is the generation five heir, a messy, shy, and slightly grouchy (but very active and playful) pleasure sim, who desires nothing more than to have 50 first dates. I can feel the fun already.

The other members of UAH are Morris (Max's brother), Macy (his half-sister), and Madeleine, the intended spouse, a former girlfriend of Jordan Vermachtnis, and currently a fortune sim. Notice anything different about them? I downloaded default replacement eyes and skin and I think they all look much better! Let me know what you think.

If you're wondering what happened to the other five spares of this generation, don't worry! Since I had so many, I plan to do a special chapter after I put this one out, just going over the spares. So look for that in a few days or so.

Madeleine reached the end of her sophomore year and had the opportunity to change aspirations. Since I've played quite a few fortune sims lately, I decided to go ahead and roll for it. And you know what? Maddie saw that as the perfect opportunity to spite me, so she is now ALSO a pleasure sim, with the LTW to have 50 dream dates. Sigh. At least Max and she will get along better. They already have very similar personalities, so this match should work out pretty well.

But Max isn't the only one around here getting some lovin'. Morris, unbeknownst to him, had made quite the impression on another SiManian, Hippielayla86, aka Lydia, aka the author of the excellent Hinckley Legacy. Anyway, she was not averse to my suggestion that I . . . ahem . . . arrange a meeting. So Lydia became a uni townie and her simself seemed to share her opinion of Morris.

Morris certainly didn't object, and they began a relationship that lasted all four years of college. There was only one problem with this budding romance . . .

Lydia is addicted to homework! If Morris leaves her alone for a minute, even during a date, she is littering every table (and, when those are filled, the floor) with assignments. Knock it off!

After their sophomore year, Morris finally pried Lydia away from her homework long enough to propose. I wish them all the best in their new life, including dealing with Morris's obvious mommy-issues.

Meanwhile, Max discovers that a few of his more well-dressed dates had something in common besides their awesome blazers, and he is hauled off to the secret society, making him only the second sim in my game to earn this distinction, mostly because I am lazy when it comes to making friends.

"Yay! Welcome to the Volvo Society, or whatever it is! Yay!"

"Um . . . why is there only one of you? What kind of welcoming party is this?"

Well, technically there's two of them (that being the maximum my sorry little computer can handle), but the other one couldn't be bothered to come greet Max. The best part is that she was one of his dates, so you can see that his paramours have just as high an opinion of him as I do.

With two pleasure sims in the house, I've had to get more and more useless toys to keep them in the green. Macy and Maddie have become couch potatos and have quite the rivalry going.

Oh, and you may notice in these pictures that, while the Greek house is nice and roomy, it is very sparsely decorated. This is not because of a lack of money. Instead, I just got fed up with the house, which turned out to be TOO large, so I didn't bother furnishing beyond what they needed.

"I just got the high score!"

That's great, Maddie, but . . . is there maybe something you're forgetting?

"Oh yeah! I haven't equipped my new sword yet! Thanks!"

So we get the fire cleaned up, and I believe Maddie has learned a lesson about who is rightly to blame for the fire she started. That's the completely logical pleasure sim way!

"Wait a second! This is just not right!"

What? Are you discriminating against bunnies? This is your thirtieth first date and has made you rather platinum.

"This is the same bunny that my grandpa was woohooing in the last chapter! Come on, a little decency please!"

Mmm . . . yeah, okay, whatever. Didn't stop you two from getting cozy later on, but we'll just pretend you lived by your convictions.

Lydia, I swear to God . . . put the homework down! Can the completely innocent game of . . . um . . . underwear pillow-fighting you and Morris just finished not even dissuade you from your horrible affliction?

Hmm, that might affect workplace relations down at the pizza parlor. Always make sure your previous date leaves the lot before you start the next date.

"So . . . how uncomfortable is the recycling process Maxis uses? I mean, you look exactly like my great-great-great-grandmother . . . right down to the stupid hair."

"I . . . uh . . . I have to go paint my toenails now."

Now might be the time to mention that not all of Max's date are dream dates. You can actually get the 50 first dates rather quickly if you just call up the matchmaker, get a blind date, end it, rinse, repeat. Now, true, this leaves you with a lot of lame dates, but as long as nothing special happens, you get neither punishment nor rewards. Now if, however, one of your other dates catches you and the date score drops rapidly in the second immediately preceding ending the date, you might end up with an interesting set of porch ornaments.

Even while he goes on date after date after mind-numbing date, Max nurses a three-bolt attraction to Maddie that he is not allowed to act on. I'm saving their date for lucky number 50. This will be oh so super romantic, but it will also hopefully avoid the number one problem of playing the field: having your intended spouse hate you.

Um . . . Lydia, I know I made you a townie and you get to do whatever you want wherever it is you townies lived, but do you think you could stay faithful to my sim, please?

(Actually that's a drama professor, so probably her only crime was, oh, say . . . talking to him once or something. I swear I'm not trying to embarass you!)

Poor, neat Morris. Max is pretty messy and Maddie actually only has two neat points, so the house is constantly overrun with roaches. We had the exterminator over every day for three semesters in a row. Personally, I am going to have to go with Morris on this one: that's disgusting.

Besides disgusting, it also has other bad effects. Macy and Morris kept getting the flu from stomping on roaches. Max and Maddie were naturally immune, being too messy to care about the roaches in the first place.

Wow! The closer we get to 50, the more the matchmaker is really scraping the bottom of the barrel. This young lady is still in the sim bin back in Halcyon River Hills. I was not aware that you could get dates that hadn't even been placed in the neighborhood. Max had a couple of other unusual dates - the cook, a social worker, etc. He was pretty much running out of people that he hadn't dated and wasn't related to.

Ah, the yearning. Can't you just feel it?

Okay. So while I think Max is pretty straight, he had started to get repeats as blind dates, and that is not helping our cause. I had to ask for a male date instead of a female one so that I could be assured it would be a first date. Luckily, this is date #49.

Max and Maddie finally get to go on their date. They have a near perfect relationship, three bolts: it was love at first hand-hold.

More importantly, though, Max reached his LTW in his senior year of college. One annoying want down, but now Maddie needs 50 dream dates. I think that one is a little easier to fill though.

Max proposed on one of their dates, finally bringing to fruition my plans to get Madeleine into the Vermachtnis family somehow.

By the way, did you know that things such as proposals are an excellent way to drive up date score? It works even better if both parties have that particular want in their panel. Its pretty much an instant dream date.

I'm not quite sure that's how you're supposed to do that . . .

Then again, it is their first time. That's right! I had Max go on 50 dates, but he and Maddie still had their first woohoo together. Makes me feel slightly less bad about Max having several other loves and crushes in his friends panel.

"Max! How could you accept a flirt from this tart with a bunny muzzle painted on her face?"

"I couldn't help it! No, really - I couldn't help it! I'm not allowed to refuse!"

Sigh, so much for avoiding jealousy in this relationship. Two days before finals (and the move home and marriage) and Maddie is furious at Max.

That didn't stop her from littering the porch for the three dream dates they did get in before they were so rudely interrupted.

Does anyone else find it annoying that sims in the same household bring date rewards? Mine always seem to break away at the worst moments to go drop off flowers, and its not like I can get anything good from their inventories.

"Wow, Macy, that was really special for me. Was it your first time, too?"

"Uh, yeah . . . I'll let you believe that."

Don't forget, Macy is a romance sim, so for the four years of college, there were several woohoo partners in addition to Max's dates.

With the clock ticking, its time to do some intensive work on Max and Maddie's relationship. Even though she's still technically furious with him, Maddie has a good relationship once again, so it is safe to proceed.

Not everyone approves of this budding romance, however, In fact, Macy is aghast when she witnesses Max and Maddie making out. She had huge drops in daily relationship with both of them. At the time, I thought that was a rather odd reaction. I wondered if it had anything to do with the fact that Maddie was still furious. Or maybe Macy was just mad that everyone else in the house gets more action than she does.

But the anger and disgust continued. Macy and Morris had hugely negative relationships with my heir and his fiance and I hadn't the slightest idea why. That's because I wasn't thinking, you see.

One detail that I have left out until now is that Max is the whiniest sim I have ever had. All of his needs are constantly dropping, but especially his hunger and fun, and it is nearly impossible to complete any tasks with him in less than two or three sittings. Max, stop being such a wuss! I'm not going to let you starve!

Ah, graduation is finally here. Maddie ends her career at Academie Le Tour with a 4.0. Max has a 3.8 because he decided to quit writing his paper moments before he had to go to one of his finals. Its all about his needs!

Wow! Absolutely horrible taste, Maddie. Let's get you in that cab and back to a wardrobe quickly.

"What? No, Madison, Maddie can't talk right now. She's uncontrollable because she just graduated. Yes, really. Why don't you wait five minutes and call her at home?"

And Max grows up in an outfit that is actually, surprisingly, kind of hot. Well done Max. I guess you can't be a total annoyance at everything, right?

Morris also graduated with a 4.0 and moved back to HRH to start a new life with Lydia. You can read more about them in the upcoming spare chapter. Macy, on the other hand, elected to stay behind at college, where she could continue to have no-strings-attached woohoo until the next generation arrived.

"Mom! Mary! We're home! We're . . . oh, I, uh, see you're kind of busy. Okay. We'll just, uh, go get ready for the wedding. You guys are invited, you know, if you're not, um, busy or anything."

Yay! Let's have a round of applause for the newly wed Maxwell and Madeleine Vermachtnis, the generation five couple!

And because they didn't have an actual wedding party, they got to celebrate their honeymoon in the way that they saw most fit.

"Max, honey, did you hear some music just now?""Um, I don't think so.""I'm sure I heard some bells or something.""Must have been the radio."

But there was trouble in paradise! I finally figured out why Max's siblings (and his mother, now that he had brought Maddie home) hated to see him be romantic with her. It turns out that Maddie and Jordan, even though they had not seen each other in years, still felt love for each other. So Max's family was upset that Maddie, who was now married to Max, was cheating on Jordan, who had long ago left her to marry Dor (aka mitinkitten, writes the delightful Miyazaki's Art). Makes perfect sense to me! Sim jealousy is so logical! Anyway, we'll have to fix this.

Jordan! Buddy! Haven't seen you in a while. Um, what ya got there? Hmm, a stiff drink. I see. But its the middle of the day! What's going on that's troubling you so?

"Just take a look out front; you tell me if I have anything to be worried about."

Hmm, yes, wife going to meet the old girlfriend. Could be tricky. Especially when the girlfriend is dressed like she might start turning tricks.

A quick kiss between Dor and Jordan quashes the dormant relationship that he and Maddie had. Its a violent and messy solution, but I needed to solve this problem quickly. Sorry guys!

And order is restored to Jordan and Dor's house.

Yay! New house!

Wait a second, you may be thinking, you just built a new house less than a generation ago.

Yes, its true. I still think the island house was probably the best I've ever built, but it was on a 6x5 lot and my computer really couldn't handle it. Plus, it was three stories and I was constantly losing sims, so I decided on a simpler two-story house on a 4x4 lot. If anyone would like to download the island house, though, I have an undecorated copy of it in my house bin. Just say the word and I'll upload it for you.

I haven't finished furnishing the new house yet because I was eager to get this chapter out, so we'll save the tour for the next chapter. Now, now, control your excitment.

Okay. Mary has gone a little funny in the head.

"No . . . hic . . . Max. I'm not . . . hic . . . dancing drunk. I just had two fruit smoothies for breakfast . . . hic.""Well, what was in them?""Um, some kind of coconut-y pineapple-y mix, crushed ice, and a bit of rum.""That's not a smoothie, Mary. In fact, I think they already have a name for that particular concoction."

"Hey, excuse me! I graduated college! Why am I studying?"

Well, Max, because you are a whiney little baby who I could never get to skill before your permanent platinum, you graduated with only the minimum skills required. Maddie has almost twice as many skills as you do. You can't even get a job anywhere near the top of any fields related to your major.

Aww, as much of a pain as two pleasure sims are, they do really get along well. They both grew up into those pretty silk pjs. They look comfy . . . I want a pair.

I put a bar in the kitchen, figuring it would give my sims something to do. I just had no idea that it would be the most attractive item in the house. Interestingly, Max is the only teetotaler (besides Maddie whom I forced to abstain for reasons that shall become clear) and he prefers juggling the glasses to emptying them.

Maddie patches up her relationship with the previous generation of Vermachtnises. These three ladies actually get along pretty well. I don't know if I would feel so calm about hottubbing with my nude, elderly mother-in-law, though. Those darn outgoing points can make sims act so strange.

Hurray! Looks like gen. 6 is on the way! This legacy is more than half over!

"Mr. Glasses, did I ever tell you about the time that I grew up? Yeah, it was great . . ."

Put The Juice Down.

Yeah, yeah, walls are down. I just wanted to show that messy Maddie left her spot on the couch, walked past the bookshelf from whence her book originated, and walked into another room, just so she could set the book down on a table. Grrrrrr. We had to get a maid almost immediately because Max and Maddie are such pigs.

Hey! Science Officer #86! I really need to get over to that other lot and resurrect you, huh?

"Boo hoo hoo. How could you do this to me? I don't even have anything to do with these crazies! You will pay for this!"

Okay, scaring pregnant women is not allowed for family members, so what makes you think it is acceptable behavior for a sim that is not in any way related? You're not that special, you know.

And so I sent Mr. Officer to the cemetary for the time being until I get around to writing another chapter of my Ten Offspring Experiment.

"Hmm . . . passed out in her food on account of a difficult pregnancy?""That's what it looks like."..."Think we should do anything?""Eh, I dunno. Hey, my drink is red and yours is blue. Let's trade for a moment."

"Maddie! Pull yourself together, woman! I carried seven children, including three sets of twins, and you didn't see me passing out and starving all over the place. This is not becoming behavior for a legacy spouse, especially not in this legacy."

*BUMP*

"Ow! Who put that cabinet there?"

Yep. Pregnancy confirmed. Yep. That's pretty much the whole point of this picture. That and I love the hack that lets your pregnant sims wear normal clothes.

Oh boy, this will be a fun one to explain to the firefighter. *big, exaggerated eyeroll*

"Grrr . . . calm down ya old birds. Y'know, I started fighting fires to meet chicks, but this is not at all what I meant!"

"Mom, Mary, I know you're adults and are perfectly capable of taking care of yourselves, but I really must suggest you leave the bar alone while you're cooking. Just a thought, y'know?"

Early the next morning, Maddie finally goes into labor. Come on generation six!

Aww, its a boy. We'll name him Prescott because I really could not think of any other male names starting with a P besides Percy, and that just didn't seem appropriate for the firstborn.

Be still, my heart. Not only does little Prescott have the blond gene that traces all the way back to Leo, but he is the first baby born in my entire legacy with recessive eyes! The blond hair he got from Max, but his green eyes and pale skin come from his mom.

You know, I just don't understand why so many legacy kids are so disturbed when they grow up. Where could these neuroses be coming from? It certainly isn't their perfectly normal childhoods. No damaging early memories . . . hmm, that's one to ponder, I suppose.

I figured Maddie would be a bad mother, because the last pleasure sim I played, Gabi, could barely be bothered to remember she had kids. Surprisingly, however, Maddie is not only on top of the feeding, but autonomously plays with and cuddles Prescott. Awwwww.

In case you've ever wondered . . . this is what woohoo looks like in a CC convertible bug. 'Tis a little strange, but, eh, whatever.

"Max?""What, Maddie?""I could have sworn I heard that music again! Is the radio even on?"

Time passes so swiftly . . . sniff. I had to laugh when I got the message "It seems like it was only yesterday . . ." Because Prescott was born before six pm, it WAS only yesterday. Oh well, its not like babies are good for anything.

Hey, Prescott, get down from there! That's a Tiffany . . . or, at least . . . a cheap imitation . . . that we picked up at the flea market . . . in exchange for a box of rare coins that we should have kept in the family . . . anyway, all that's not important, just stop horsing around, young man!

I am in love! Does anyone else just want to reach through the screen and pinch his chubby cheeks? Prescott is absolutely adorable. He has a great personality, too, although I'm not really sure where it came from. He's 6 Neat, 4 Shy, 7 Active, 4 Serious, and 9! Nice. The shyness and activity are straight from Max, but the rest is a mystery.

"Wow. Potty training is fascinating. Let's all crowd around in the bathroom. Amazing. The process of life. Wow."

Completely normal family, I swear! Maddie has some kind of bizarre death wish, and anytime her needs get low, she figures the panacea for all her ills is a rousing game of tub pirate! If I ever wonder where she is, all I have to do is check the bathrooms.

Uh oh! What an event-filled day! Prescott's birthday, another dream date in the car, and now Max gets abducted!

I had wanted Max to get abducted for some time, but I'm not so sure this is the most convienent time for it . . . we might have other concerns.

Exactly how many children are the Vermachtnises expecting next chapter?What other disasters will the elder couple's taste for fruit juice cause?Will Maddie ever get her dream dates now that she and Max have a family to care for?

Check back for chapter 9 to find the answers to these scintillating questions. Don't forget to also look for a chapter on the spares in between normal chapters!

And that's where I'll leave off for now. Sorry that this is an unusually short chapter for me, but school just started and my work schedule has been crazy, so I do what I can. As always, thanks to my readers at Boolprop and SiMania and anywhere else you may come from. Come check out my thread at either forum! You can find SiMania at http://s12.invisionfree.com/Sim_Mania/index.php?act=idx. Come hang out with us, you'll be glad you did. Thanks for reading everyone!