Chapter 43: The Gnomes are Worried

After Meghan's death, no one has been tending the garden. The gnomes gather around the weedy, dessicated plants, but are unable to do anything about it.

Rhys becomes a child, and takes over the bedroom recently occupied by his grandparents. His favorite color is the same as Archer's, so no changes in decor are needed.

Jessica discovers a new hobby.

Mining has produced a large glowing hole in the yard, so Jessica inspects it, and falls in. On her underground adventure, she meets a Grey Warden who warns her away from a darkspawn infested cave.

Alis becomes a child.

Playing tag in the family graveyard after dusk.


Challenge Notes:
Talfryn and Jessica have both achieved their LTWs and have thus officially completed all their goals for their generation.
The legacy is supposed to continue until the gen 11 dies, but my plan was just to go until the gen 11 heir (Rhys) becomes YA. However, now that Gen 10 has met its goals, I'm finding the actual playing of the legacy to be kind of tedious. I can't get too interested in or attached to the kids because I know I won't be playing them as adults.
I did intend to carry on with this legacy and give it a proper wrap up, but as I've moved on to my next legacy, the longer I go without playing this one, the less I feel like loading it. So I can't say for sure when or if this legacy will be updated  again.
Here is a link to my new legacy:
Foster Enmity: A Random Legacy

Chapter 42: Leftover Party Drinks

Guests begin arriving for Talfryn and Jessica's wedding.

As soon as everyone arrives, and before they all start wandering around the house, the couple take their vows.

Now Jessica is officially a Carlton.

The three Carlton brothers enjoy the angel cake, baked generations ago by Violet Carlton, but still flaming.

Dylan does his Yeti hand puppets for Carys, who is expecting her first child.

The bridal couple dance.

"Do we really have to stay down here? I'd like to go upstairs and be alone," Jessica suggests.


"These parties are more about my Dad than anyone else," Talfryn answers, "We don't have to stay."

Caitlin picks a fight with Carys.

Alvin and Kristian go out to the yard to get away from their in-laws.

And the happy couple sneak up to their bedroom.

Archer starts off Sunday morning with leftover wedding party drinks.

Not long after their wedding, Talfryn and Jessica are expecting.

Dylan gets a cake for his birthday, but no party. The only person he wanted invite, his girlfriend Candace, couldn't make it because of her working hours in the music career.

Dylan becomes a man. Following in Shadow McDermott's footsteps, he gets a job as a ghost hunter. Then he moves in with Candace. The couple marry shortly afterwards.

Talfryn and Jessica have a son, Rhys.

And quickly follow up with a second pregnancy.

"You can't take me now, I've got another grandchild on the way!"
Archer's pleas do not move the Reaper.

Talfryn shares his grief with Jessica.

Rhys becomes a toddler.

And he gets a little sister, Alis, to share his nursery.

Ghosts: more afraid of you than you are of them.

Alis becomes a toddler. Meghan spends a lot of time in the nursery, helping to raise her grandchildren.

So it's no surprise that Grim comes for her while she's teaching little Alis to walk.

Archer and Meghan are buried together with the rest of the family. 


Challenge Notes:
Generation 11 is born. I didn't roll any rules for Rhys and Alis, since this legacy will be ending when Rhys becomes a YA. As long as I can fulfill Talfryn and Jessica's goal of Fulfilled, to achieve their LTWs before then.
They are both looking good to achieve this before Rhys a YA. Jessica is level 9 Handiness and level 8 Logic (she must max both). Talfryn is level 9 painting, level 7 Logic and level 8 Charisma (must max all 3).


I'm really bummed out I don't have a picture of Jessica's Gnome of Invention. I was sure I shot one right after she made it, but there is no picture of it. Lyle never made one of those, so I was excited for Jessica that she did. Oh, well, lol.

Chapter 41: World's Greatest Uncle

Archer has thrown many parties in life, mostly birthday parties for his children,  but celebrates his own birthdays in private.

Already a grandfather now that Emery and Caitlin have had their first child, Archer now looks more the part.

Since it's a school day, Dylan doesn't get a real birthday party, either. But he does get a cake, for once.

Dylan becomes a teen.

His childhood friend Candace became a teen a few days ago and has been patiently waiting for him to catch up to her.
Talfryn's girlfriend Jessica has come to the little non-party, too, but she's not much in the mood to celebrate. Her elderly mother has just passed away and she had to move in with her older sister Norma and her husband. Jessica has never been close to her sister and the couple resent having to be responsible for her.

Dylan is growing up, but still clings to childhood.

The following Saturday is Talfryn's birthday, which of course is celebrated with a party. The town has come to expect a large party at the Carlton house every Saturday.
Griffin lives across the street and is first to arrive.

Bronwyn and her husband show up next. They are expecting their first child any day now.

It's not a party without cake. Carys' husband Kristian shows up without his wife, saying she'll be along later.

Talfryn becomes a man.

Before anyone can get a slice of cake, Bronwyn goes into labor. Her husband Alvin is woefully unprepared for this.

So Talfryn steps in and drives his sister to the hospital. At that moment, Carys finally shows up.


"Are you sure you want to leave your own party?" Bronwyn asks, "Dad could take me to the hospital..."


"These parties are more about Dad than about us," Talfryn says with a smile, "And I'm hoping to get one of those 'World's Greatest Uncle' mugs."

Talfryn gets his sister to the hospital.

Alvin eventually gets himself together and arrives at the hospital just in time for the birth.

Bronwyn and Alvin have a son, Jeffrey.

"I'm glad you came," Tricia Merrick greets Talfryn outside her house, "He's waiting for you inside."
Talfryn had got a call the night before from Beau Merrick, requesting a visit. Talfryn was a bit hesitant to meet the old vampire, but decided to honor his ancestor's invitation.

"You know who I am?" Beau asks as soon as Talfryn steps into the room.


"Of course, you are my great-great-grandfather," Talfryn answers, "My grandfather wrote your biography."


"Unauthorized biography," Beau scowls, then relents, "But he did it for Briar Rose, I suppose."


"Is there something you wanted from me?" Talfryn asks nervously. He grew up around vampires, his uncle Griffin married one, his cousin Jaimey is one, and the principal of the school he attended as a child and where he's now employed as a teacher is one, but this vampire, the ancestor of them all, makes him uneasy.


"I've lived a long life," Beau answers, "For generations, I've worked in this town's cemetery, tended to the dead. My own death is not long in coming, and I do not wish to be buried with all the others. I would prefer to rest with...my family. With my daughter, and her granddaughter."


Beau has three daughters, one a still living vampire, and two who were cured of vampirism, Yesenia Merrick and Talfryn's great-grandmother Violet. Talfryn assumes the daughter Beau wishes to be buried with is Violet, who lies in the Carlton yard with the rest of the family. Having read his grandfather's biography of the vampire, Talfryn is quite sure that Violet, and her mother Oregon, would want him to refuse the old vampire's request. But his grandmother Briar Rose would have wanted him to accept, and with fond memories of her still fresh in his mind, Talfryn takes Beau's hand and promises to bury him with the family when the time comes.

Carys lives in the house next to Beau and his wife, so Talfryn drops by after he leaves the old vampire, and tells her about his strange request.


"Do vampire ghosts drink blood?" Carys wonders, "Our ghosts used to raid the fridge all the time."

The siblings end their conversation with a game of tag, running around in the street like they did as children.


"I'm too old for this," Carys sighs, out of breath.


"Nonsense," Talfryn answers, "I'm just better at it than you."

That afternoon, Talfryn has a birthday cake for Jessica, since her own family can't be bothered with her. 

He also invites her to move in, and lets her redecorated his room, her room, too, now, in her favorite color. She's had a difficult time since her mother died, and he'd do anything to make her happy.

While redecorating, Jessica found Lyle Carlton's old workbench in storage, along with the schematics for his various widgets and other inventions. Working for his own amusement rather than monetary gain, Lyle had never patented his work or shared the results outside his family. Jessica decides it's time the world was let in on Lyle's genius, and gets the required patents for the inventions, and starts producing them quantity for sale to the public.

Lyle's notes also mentioned the dangers of ass on fire. 

Talfryn comes home from work with a surprise for Jessica. For one, he's been promoted.

More importantly, he's bought her a ring, and asks her to marry him. Jessica is thrilled to accept his proposal.


"My Dad will want a huge wedding party. On Saturday," Talfryn says.


Challenge Notes:
Generation 10! It feels great to be near the end.
Archer achieved all his goals (well, still waiting for Dylan to grow up to YA) and now that Talfryn has taken over, he is no longer required to throw a weekly party. But we'll have the wedding party, anyway.
Archer achieved his LTW to be a Super Spy. Meghan's original LTW was something career related, so I used her happiness points to buy her the Surrounded by Family LTW, which was fulfilled when Dylan became a teen.
Talfryn is employed in the Education career, and Jessica has taken on inventing. Her original LTW was to be an astronaut, so as soon as she got the 10k points I changed that to Tinkerer (max handiness and logic). Because this generations goals if Fulfilled, I wasn't happy until I got her a LTW she could actually do.
I might change her traits up a little, too, when she gets the points. She doesn't have any really bad traits. She's Good, Handy, Heavy Sleeper, Ambitious and Vegetarian. I'm worried about Ambitious because she doesn't have a regular career and the skill careers get harder to advance in in the higher levels. Also, not keen on Vegetarian. I am a vegetarian myself, so, nothing against vegetarianism, but my problem is not knowing what foods cooked by non-vegetarian Sims are going to be 'meaty'.  I mean, obviously, cheesesteak, but I get tripped up by things like spaghetti. Even when I was a meat eater, my spaghetti normally wasn't in meat sauce, so I've frequently had my vegetarian Sims get sick on stealth meat spaghetti. It doesn't help that the game assumes meat in recipes that don't require meat (like spaghetti, which only require tomato).  The fridge is still full of foods prepared by Violet, and Archer has also done his share of cooking. I could have Jessica prepare her own vegetarian meals, but I'm concentrating on her LTW skills and her career, so she's been eating leftover salad and grilled cheese. Happily, there are no stealth bacon bits in the salad, lol.
Talfryn's LTW is Renaissance Sim, to max three skills. His job requires Logic and Charisma, and he has the Artistic trait, so he'll be going for Logic, Charisma and Painting for his LTW.