Welcome back to the Vetinari Dualegacy! This is Chapter 23: An Intellectual Tortoise!

Last time, Cass and Gil went on a second date and the Gen 8 kids headed off to college. Also, Stevie got the first of his five Level 10 Businesses, a little boutique called I Wuv You Beary Much.

That was about it. It was a short, fluffy chapter. What can I say? It was time for one of those.

And now: college!

Scott and Niobe are still holding down the fort at Havelock House. Scotty still finger-guns and does the Creepy Nice Point Smile. Niobe does the Creepy Nice Point Smile without the finger-gunning.

I've gotten better at planning ahead, so Howe was already friends with Niobe and Scott before he got to college. All he had to do was stick around long enough for the pledge period to be over.

While Howie was busy writing term papers and cleaning the showers, Niobe fell in love with this Downtownie. When he's not busy being a General or whatever, he's the guy in the tan jacket with the mailman Pao-face.

Niobe got to have a night of fun, and if she never rolls another Want for him again, at least she'll have gotten her purple heart.

Scotty was already friends with Hairbuns Hippie, and had a couple of purple heart Wants clogging his panel, so I decided to send him out with a bang, as it were.

Never let it be said that I passed up an easy innuendo.

Niobe got her Repo Gun on.

There was pillow fighting in the kitchen.

Niobe graduated with a 4.0 and all that other good stuff.

She was whisked away home, where she treated herself to a change of clothes and the attention of faithful dog Jesse.

Scotty had the foresight to grow up in his outerwear, so as not to appear to be a Hurtful Stereotype.

He also got a pretty immediate makeover.

That left Howie in charge of the house!

“My eyebags are back!”Yes they are.

Howe “Howie” Vetinari, Cancer 8/3/10/8/6, is a Gen 8 Uglacy spare and a Pleasure Sim with the LTW to top the Slacker career, or something like that. It used to be 50 First Dates, but ehehehehe NO.

He got the placement of Tess's eyes and her chin and jaw; the rest of his face is pure Brad the Hippie.

Gordie Howe (#9; 1928- ), or “Mr. Hockey,” is considered one of the all-time hockey greats, winning 6 Hart Trophies as the NHL's MVP during his career. He was a member of the so-called “Production Line” and hockey fans know that a “Gordie Howe hat trick” is a goal, an assist, and a fight.

Howe played with the Detroit Red Wings in the days of the Original Six, and was a member of the team from 1946 to 1971. His records include most NHL regular season games played, most NHL regular season games played with a single team, most NHL seasons played, oldest player to play in the NHL, and most goals, assists, and points in the NHL by a right winger. He's in the Hockey Hall of Fame, and is considered the third best hockey player of all time, behind Wayne Gretzky and Bobby Orr.

My Howie would rather play poker than hockey any day of the week.

Aurie doesn't know what to make of the Llama Mascot, and wonders if I've broken the Cow.

Seeing as how it's praying to the stairs, I think that's a fair question. Possibly, the sight of its brethren stuffed and mounted on the wall has broken its brain.

The Cow Mascot begging to inanimate objects will be something of a theme this generation. Fair warning.

Replacement cheerleader Kana Knight (no relation to Randy) is something of a card shark. Howie would probably be happier about it if he were into girls. Lindsay doesn't care, because YAY NEW FRIEND!

And here is a cow pleading slightly with a Dormie but mostly to the door, as Howie tries to ignore what's going on.

But it's been a semester, so it's time for Sawchuk to join the party!

Or drain the life out of the room. Whichever.

“I don't drain the life out of the room.”You sort of do. It's OK. I love you anyway.

Sawchuk Vetinari, Aries 6/7/7/3/5, Gen 8 Prettacy spare, is a Fortune Sim with the LTW to top some career or other. Business, I think. Honestly, after 8 generations, I don't even care enough to write this stuff down anymore.

He started life with 9 Outgoing, but always acted like a bit of a prude, so I had his father Encourage him down a couple so he'd stop finger-gunning. He'd do it, and then seem ashamed to have done it, and I hated to see it on him.

Terry Sawchuk (1929-1970) was the goaltender for the Red Wings in the Original Six days, and was a member of the team from 1949-1955 and 1957-1964, and during the 1968-1969 season. In his career, he won 4 Vezina trophies and 4 Stanley Cups.

He is ranked #9 on the list of Greatest Hockey Players, the highest-ranked goalie, and while he still holds the record for most career ties, his career shutout record of 39 years was broken by Marty Brodeur in 2009.

Sawchuk was posthumously inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, and the Red Wings retired his #1 jersey in 1994.

Sawchuk would be more inclined towards clemency if the cow weren't begging to a chair.

The rest of the family spends a lot of time at the Greek House.

And no, that's not what Aurie grew up in, that's just something that was already in the dresser at the dorm that was much easier on the eyes than what she grew up in.

A few minutes later, I hear that noise. You know the one. Sort of twinkly, like it should involve harp music and a choir of angels?

They were both uncontrollable, and with nineteen combined Outgoing points, I perhaps should have expected this.

Except this is WAY worse than when Indy and Coco had their little romantic mishap, because neither of them wants a harem of lovers like SOME Sims I could name, AURIE.

“Er... So what do we do now?”

“Well, as far as I'm concerned, one down, nineteen to go!”

“...I'm not going to like this very much, am I?”

“At some point, it's pretty much going to suck for the both of us.”

“Yay?”

At least I don't have to worry about this causing any mishaps. Howie can dance half-naked with Lindsay all he wants.

Of course, after Lindsay moves in, they'll both be half-naked.

“Oh, don't be such a drama queen.”Please. There will be more pictures of you in your pajamas than clothed. I have been down this road before, many times.

Lindsay Vetinari, Aries 6/9/7/3/5, Gen 8 potential Prettacy heir, is a Pop Sim with the LTW to top a career. Not Politics or Law. One of the other Pop Sim-y ones. Seriously, I have stopped caring, just as long as it's not something irritating.

Lindsay is what Sawchuk SHOULD have been and WASN'T. She's very much a Pop Sim's Pop Sim.

Ted Lindsay (1925- ), aka “Terrible Ted”, helped organize the NHLPA, the hockey players' union. He was part of the “Production Line” with Gordie Howe, and is the reason that there are penalties for elbowing and kneeing.

He played with the Red Wings from 1944 to 1957 and the 1964-1965 season. He played over 1000 games in his career, is a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame, and is ranked 21st on the list of Greatest Hockey Players.

The Red Wings retired his #7 jersey in 1991.

“Ugh, those guys. Always with the sunny disposition.”

“I like smiles, they're so neat, just more people I need to meet! Smiles! Smiles! Gooooo smiles!”

Lindsay has far better luck with Kana Knight than she does with this Dormie. It's one of those situations where none of their Interests coincide, so having a good conversation is pretty much out of the question. I clicked off Macro... Socialize before any more damage could be done.

“Uh... there's a naked lady over there.”

“Yeah, that's Naked Lady. She comes by every other day or so.”

“Really? Ehehe... boobies.”

Meanwhile, someone breaks the TV and Howie is made to fix it.

I would have had Abe or Vex do it, but it was going to actually cost Influence, since they were fully pledged in.

“Look! My eye bags are worse than Howie's!”I think you're right about that.

Abel Vetinari, Aries 8/10/5/1/10, Gen 8 Uglacy spare, is a Pop Sim with the LTW to top a career.

Abe and Vex are twins, and they're pretty close. Closer than some of my twins have been in the past, but they're not giving off a “Pinky & the Brain” vibe like Bucky and Marco.

Anyway, Abe was dating Stacie and Connor's daughter Kaylee, and eventually I will hook the two of them back up.

Sid Abel (1918-2000), aka “Old Bootnose”, was the third member of the “Production Line,” centering Gordie Howe and Ted Lindsay.

Abel played for the Red Wings during the 1938-1939 season, again from 1939 to 1943, and from 1945 to 1952, winning two Stanley Cups and one Hart Trophy with the club, and he coached the team from 1957 to 1968.

He's a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame, is ranked 85th on the list of Greatest Hockey Players, and his #12 jersey was retired by the Red Wings.

“I got the eye bags and the wonky chin!”I know, honey. I know.

Delvecchio “Vex” Vetinari, Pisces 5/3/10/1/10, Gen 8 Uglacy spare, is a Knowledge Sim whose LTW is, I'm almost certain, to be a Mad Scientist, although he's got maxed Nice, so at best, he'd be a “moderately peeved” scientist.

I get the feeling that Vex and Abel wouldn't appreciate me splitting them up after college, so I probably won't. He doesn't have a girlfriend yet, though. Gotta find just the right one!

Alex Delvecchio (1931- ) was a member of the third Gordie Howe/Ted Lindsay Production Line. He played with the Red Wings during the 1950-1951 season, and from 1951 to 1974. He holds the records for seasons and games played in a career spent with one team, and is second behind Gordie Howe for the most games played in a Red Wings uniform. He was captain of the team for 12 years, and won 3 Stanley Cups.

Delvecchio ranks second in team stats for number of games played, and third in points, goals, and assists. He is a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame and is ranked 82nd on the list of Greatest Hockey Players. The Red Wings retired his #10 jersey in 1991.

That's Abel on the left and Howie on the right. Abe's got the darker skintone and the shinier hair. Also, Howie is shy, so he tends to be dressed more often than Abel. He just got out of the hot tub here, so this is a bit of an anomaly. Generally, black hair + hook nose + bare chest = Abel.

And once again, Vex and Abe are in the same room. Aurie's just trying to pry Abe away from the piano, which is not going to happen.

“Hey, congratulations on falling in love with Aurie and making the Supreme Nerd quietly sob in a corner somewhere! Well done!”

“Thanks!”

“Oooh, are we congratulating? I wanna congratulate too!”

CHEER BREAK!

I love these guys. They crack me up so hard.

And look! I found a view of Abel that doesn't make his face look weird!

OK, I was really hoping this would get more clear when they hit YA, and it did. That's Howie on the left and Vex on the right (obviously).

The difference in their chins is pretty clear. Howie has one; Vex, not so much. But the interesting thing is the set of their eyes. If you look, the top of Howie's nose is just below the top of his eyes. If you look at Vex, the top of his nose is BELOW the bottom of his eyes. That's the same way Brad the Hippie's eyes are. Vex, Abe, and Stevie inherited the shape and placement of Brad's eyes. Howie got the PLACEMENT of Tess's eyes, but SIZE of Brad's. It's one of the reasons I think Howie looks less strange than his brothers—their eyes are too far up their faces. “Less strange” being a relative term, of course.

And then a sink breaks and Howie is made to fix it.

I don't know why Howie is the go-to Mr. Fix-It. Maybe it's just because when I need someone who's not doing anything crucial to go fix something, there he is.

For some reason, Uncle Bucky pops in to say Hi. And possibly, “I will get my revenge for you selling me teddy bears.”

Except he can't say that to Howie, because Howie had nothing to do with I Wuv You Beary Much. And really, what did Bucky expect from a business called I Wuv You Beary Much?

But who cares about Uncle Bucky? Our resident Romancer is moving in!

“Not just another finger-gunning Vetinari!”True. You're the second red-headed finger-gunning Vetinari!

Aurie Vetinari, Gemini 6/9/9/3/5, Gen 8 potential Prettacy heir, is a Romance Sim with the LTW to have 20 Simultaneous Lovers. And as we've seen, she only has 19 left! Well, 19 and a slapping.

And no, I still have not decided between Lindsay and Aurie. More on that later, I promise. I have a cunning plan!

Larry Aurie (1905-1952), aka “Little Dempsey” aka “Little Rag Man”, played with the team currently known as the Red Wings from 1927 to 1939, retiring at age 33 after a broken leg suffered during a game left him with chronic problems.

Aurie's #6 jersey was retired by the owner of the team after the 1938-1939 season, and hung at Olympia Stadium in the 1960s. However, current team owner Mike Ilitch (who also owns the Detroit Tigers and Little Caesar's Pizzeria), refuses to hang Aurie's number from the rafters at the Joe Louis Arena, and will not explain why. One theory is that his refusal to honor Aurie stems from Aurie's lack of Hall of Fame membership, but Ilitch will not confirm or deny this.

WHY NO LOVE FOR LARRY AURIE, MIKE ILITCH?

Delvecchio celebrates with a mad leap off the karaoke machine, because his three Outgoing points are a lie.

Aurie immediately puts the wishing well to good use, wishing for friends who will become lovers in a few short interactions.

And, because I suck at this, there is slapping, because I thought Abel was going to be at class for another hour, and I couldn't be arsed to bring any of Aurie's new friends inside.

On the plus side, Aurie didn't lose Abe as a lover, and he's too nice to stalk her with ill intentions, like the Bucky/Carver/Faraday triangle of evil last generation.

“You are so hot when you're breaking my heart! And you! With the white T-shirt! You are a big stinky cheater but thanks for the 1000 Aspiration Points I get for meeting you!”

If the rest of this chapter is incoherent, it is because Abel just BROKE MY BRAIN.

Vex doesn't have a gender preference, to my knowledge. I don't have to worry about letting him roam.

And once again, Vex and Abe are stalking each other, although I'm sure Abe doesn't want to be congratulated about falling in love, seeing as how Aurie just cheated on him and all.

They really do not leave each other alone. It's like having a pair of three-bolters, only they're twin brothers, so that would be squicky. But that's the level of togetherness they like.

Speaking of togetherness, the last member of this generation is ready to join the household.

“I can't really see anything.”Yeah... That's as open as your eyes get. Sorry.

Yzerman “Stevie” Vetinari, Pisces 2/3/10/1/10, Gen 8 Uglacy heir, is a Pop Sim with the LTW to have 5 Top Level Businesses. See? The annoying LTWs, I remember. Anyway, he's got a bunch of gold badges under his belt, and one level 10 business.

His eyes... I dunno. Something about the placement of Brad's eyes plus Tess's brow, maybe. I think Vex and Abe have more eyeball visible. Stevie sort of looks permanently stoned.

Steve Yzerman (1965- ), aka The Captain, was named Captain of the Red Wings at the age of 21, and served in that capacity for two decades, the longest-serving captain of any team in any major sports league. He won three Stanley Cups during his tenure with the Wings, from 1983 to 2006.

Yzerman is sixth in NHL history in points, eighth in goals, and seventh in assists. In team statistics, he is first in assists, second in points and goals, third in games played, and second all-time in games and seasons played with only one franchise. For many of the team records, he is sandwiched between Gordie Howe and Alex Delvecchio.

Yzerman is a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame, ranked 6th in the Top Hockey Players since 1967, and his #19 jersey was retired—with a C—in 2007.

“Oh, hey Sawchuk. I'll be done in a second if you wanna use this shower. Or, you know, the other two are free.”

“I didn't... That is to say... Showering isn't...”

“If you didn't want to take a shower, why'd you come into the room with the showers?”

“Um, hi? That was kind of a kiss.”

“I... I'm sorry.”

“Why apologize?”

“Howe, I don't...”

“You could just kiss me again instead.”

“No!”

“Sawchuk--”

“Get off me!”

“What the hell, man?”

“I don't want to--”

“To what? You're the one who came into a place where I was naked and kissed me. I didn't ask you to do that. I didn't send out little rays of gayness and force you to do anything.”

“I only wanted to--”

“Mess with me? Is that it? Well, good job there!”

“Will you let me finish a sentence?”

“I might, if I thought you weren't going to say something stupid!”

“I would like the chance to explain myself!”

“How do you even explain that, huh?”

“Hey, you guys mind if I take a...”

“...Never mind, I'll use the upstairs bathroom.”

“You wanna talk, then talk!”

“I had never kissed anyone before. I wanted to see what it was like.”

“That's crap and you know it! Plenty of people around who aren't naked to get your kiss on with!”

“Fine. I was unsure where my... inclinations... lay, and I thought you would be more receptive to my actions than anyone else I know. Clearly, I was wrong.”

“I was receptive! You were the one who backed off!”

“I wasn't ready for--”

“For me to assume you meant it when you kissed me? Screw you.”

“I thought your branch of the family tree was nice.”

“Didn't you get the memo? I'm the mean one.”

“Clearly.”

“No. You don't get to do that. You don't get to be angry with me. You're the one who's wrong here. I'm not a toy, Sawchuk. You can't just play with me and stick me in a box when you're done. I'm a person, not a thing, and I don't deserve to be treated like this. You can take your curiosity and stuff it, because you know what? I wanted to kiss you again. I liked you. And now I just think you're a jerk.”

“I'm not.”

“Yeah. You are. Deal with it.”

We interrupt your regularly scheduled broadcast to bring you these words from our spare houses!

This happened before they'd even really gotten settled into the house. Channon was still finishing up her makeover, in fact. Mitch can't help it that he's a Romance Sim.

Brett decided to take matters into his own hands, making sure Mitch knew exactly whose girlfriend Joyce was.

Mitch seemed to think it was more funny than anything else. He's a pretty laid-back guy for a childrinion.

Not so laid back that he doesn't enjoy a little Cow Mascot trauma, though.

Count the signs of Vetinari!

A guy wandering around in his pajama bottoms complaining that he can't clean up because something is in his way, a cow praying to a chair, a hot chick with a bigass gun, and a bird's ass.

And yes, the Cow Mascot really was pleading for his life from the dining chair.

Arch-nemesis Gordon Barrett the Llama is back. I am not certain why he comes in and acts like a Cow Mascot, with the pranking and irritating, but everybody in this house is piss-mean, so he should really take his shenanigans elsewhere.

Channon was ready to throw down when the Llama got distracted by Brett's underpants.

Then the Llama sealed his fate.

“Oi! Get your fuzzy ass out here!”

“I love the smell of scorched fake fur in the morning...”

Happily, the Llama was not the only one Joyce got to Smite.

Roxie Sharpe decided that the trash can looked oh-so-kickable, despite not being angry with anyone in the house, or even knowing anyone in the house.

Hopefully, she learns a valuable lesson from all of this. It is college, after all. It's about learning.

Channon and Mitch are a little behind when it comes to dancing. Joyce finds Channon's lack of mad skillz hilarious.

These two are more or less inseperable.

One thing led to another, as things do.

They become the first ones in the house to see their demented purple hearts.

Some day, I will have a good enough computer to see the pupils.

Not to be outdone, Mitch renews his acquaintance with Wydah.

They're both Romancers, so this isn't a hardship in any way.

Safe to say that a good time was had by all.

Channon gave Edmund Fitzgerald a call and got in on the dating action.

She's a Pleasure Sim, and didn't roll any purple-heart Wants, so I put that off for a while. No sense in doing it if they're not both getting boatloads of Aspiration from it!

“Miiiiiinnnnnne.”

“Dude, I get it!”

“Not for you!”

“I said I get it! I just want to go to class! I am not making a move on your girlfriend!”

“Good! Because you no can has.”

Brett is seriously paranoid about Mitch making a move on Joyce, despite the fact that Mitch and Joyce have negative chemistry. Plus, Brett doesn't leave Joyce alone long enough for anything to happen.

I don't mind, though. They're very cute together in their matching Doctor Who shirts, courtesy of LJ's regacylady.

Yes, I have spent a lot of time in this house, but it's my SimSpawn, and I'm allowed to show favoritism!

This is the last slide of them this chapter, though. Somehow, all three of them managed to cook their food perfectly, with no disasters, even though they were all in the kitchen at the same time, using the same stove. It was pretty miraculous.

Next up are Six and Ellie Landgraab. They're in the house that Uncle Eddie started way back when. OK, two generations ago.

This is an almost daily occurrence. Six has a penchant for sneaking outside when I'm not paying attention, and Lisa Ramirez is doing something she doesn't want anyone to know about, and does not appreciate Six spying on her through the telescope.

Also in grand Landgraab college tradition, the burglar shows up to steal their Cuisinart. Or possibly their lamp.

Ellie displayed an unexpected bloodthirsty side, cheering on Officer Hairbuns, while Six determined that his energy could be better spent cleaning his bathroom.

While he does the obligatory flamey-thought-ballooning of the burglar, Six reserves a fair amount of hatred for the cheerleader, who insists on grabbing a book, putting it on the floor in order to cheer, and then grabbing a totally different book. Six is far too tidy to enjoy that sort of sloppiness.

To get his mind off of things, I sent him on a date with Inara.

They more or less picked up right where they left off.

If the cheap orange hatchback's a-rockin', don't come a-knockin'.

Ellie needed to have some romance in her life too, so I set her up with Michael Turner, the Dormie Kate rejected for not being Scotty or Bell, and therefore someone appropriate for her to set her sights on.

Well, I wasn't about to pawn Michael Turner off on someone who did not appreciate him, so Kate is single, and Michael Turner gets a second chance at love!

Ellie didn't get her first kiss as a teenager, and I could think of worse Sims for her to give it to!

Unlike Kate, Ellie rolls Wants for ol' Mike, so he gets out of the Dormie pool! Hooray!

Of course, if he is annoying in any way, I will wish I'd left him with Kate.

At the last of the spare houses, Dead Coach Stinkypants is kept away from the house by the ghost-proof moat, and he is not happy about it. However, I'm sure that the two Fortune Sims, Romance Sim, and Pop Sim who live in the house would not be happy about him haunting it, scaring the pants off of everyone every other night.

Wydah has no compassion for irritating Mascots. Not even begging to the sofa could save it from Repo Gunning.

The not-evil Llama Mascot shows up and makes friends with Inara. This one has yet to annoy me, so it may survive un-Smited. For now.

The house is pretty trauma-free. Everyone gets along, no one is pushing for inappropriate romances, and there is no hot tub, so Kaylee can't sit in it naked and freak everyone out.

Which is not to say that nothing bad ever happens, but honestly, Wydah setting herself on fire just means it's time for lunch.

She's almost as big a pyro as PseudoBruty.

In this case, the fallout wasn't so much that Wydah set herself on fire, as it was that Inara was trying to have a date with Six, and neither of them could stand to be in the same room with her.

Kaylee was smarter, and kept Abel outside for a while, to let the place air out from the stink of burned food and crispy Wydah.

If there had been a roaring fire, they would have retired to it, but had to settle for Edmund Fitzgerald playing the snowboarding game instead.

Eventually, Edmund Fitzgerald got disgusted by the PDA and went to the pinball machine upstairs, far away from the exhibitionists.

And then he got peckish and set his dinner on fire.

Because that is how he rolls.

Now we're going away from college for a moment, but I don't think anyone will mind...

“Are you having fun, Cassidy?”

“Yeah, I am. I can't remember the last time I went skating. I was probably just barely out of diapers, and my mom took me.”

“I don't go skating much myself, but I thought you'd enjoy it.”

“I do.”

“Not so fond of this part, though. Didn't like it much as a kid, either.”

“Well, at least it's not an ice rink! We don't have to worry about cold butts.”

“Do you always look on the bright side, Gil?”

“I try to.”

“How do you do it? How do you look at the world and see the good stuff?”

“It's not all good stuff. I'm not a Pollyanna. I know there are bad things out there, but most of the time, things could be worse. I've got my health, and I'm happy, and I'm doing what I love, and I'm making a new friend. If falling on my butt is the worst thing that happens to me today, it's been a pretty good day.”

“I guess it has.”

“Is falling down the worst thing that's happened to you today?”

“Yeah. Especially when I know I've fallen a lot farther, a lot harder.”

“And have there been good things too?”

“Sure. I'm also making a new friend.”

“So your new friend is a good thing?”

“He certainly seems like one.”

“He's a nice guy, then?”

“Nicer than a lot of the ones I've met.”

“That's a shame.”

“Why?”

“You deserve to know more kind people.”

“I didn't think that for a very long time.”

“But now you do?”

“I'm starting to.”

“I'm glad. That means I'm doing something right.”

“Lots of somethings, actually.”

“As long as I'm not doing anything wrong.”

“So far, no.”

“Then I'll just have to keep on like this.”

“Gil?”

“Hmmm?”

“If you really are the guy I think you are... I'm gonna be really glad you sat next to me at Red's that day. A part of me already is.”

Back to the actual Legacy, this is Stevie's second business, ToYz. It sells, as you might imagine, toys.

There's also a makeover chair. Stevie will need his gold Cosmetology badge, so he's going to need to give a lot of makeovers, so he may as well start now. At least this way, the victims will come to him.

Connor approves, as long at Stevie doesn't try to get him in that chair.

Connor's grandma Dicreasy is not so lucky. She's the first one to get into Stevie's chair. Happily, he changed her eyeliner and sent her off without incident.

Dicreasy writes the Victorian Legacy.

ToYz draws all sorts of customers, including old faces like Gen 3's Gerry, who was persuaded to stop picking his nose and buy a glitchy bunny head instead.

There were plenty of new faces, too, like the boys' cousin Kitty, Uncle Marco's PlantSpawn.

And who else would show up to a toy store but Pleasure Sims? In the case of Billy and Toast, the couple who shops for Water Wigglers and toy boxes together, stays together!

EphemeralToast created the Ugothlacy and the Apocalypso-A-Go-Go.

Brad pretended to look at toy xylophones, while secretly being proud of Stevie for Dazzling Billy into buying a glitchy bunny head. Nothing like sticking it to the (goofy, green) Man!

Poor Prof became Stevie's first fashion victim. This was maybe three or four makeovers from his Bronze badge, and it was his very first bad one. He managed to fix it right away, and then gave a series of bad makeovers after he got his badge.

But see? Prof is all better! You can tell she's happy, because she flamey-thought-balloons the Townies she's mad at!

Professorbutters writes the Squeaky Clean Legacy.

“I don't need a Myshuno machine. No one has one, no one's ever played one, and it will just be deleted from my inventory.”

“So that's why you should buy one! You won't use it, you'll still have the money, and you'll have the good vibes from helping me!”

“...At least it's better than the evil bears.”

This handsome fella showed up all on his own. His name is Nikolai, and he'll be the gene donor for Gen 9. He's got recessive genes, although I can't remember exactly what they are.

I've decided to let Lindsay and Aurie choose who's heir amongst themselves, like I did with SimNerd and her potential suitors. I'll get them both high relationships with Nikolai, and then see what happens—they're equally Outgoing, and should have equal chemistry with him, so I'll turn them loose on him and wait for someone to make the first move.

That just seemed to be the fairest way to go about it.

Aurie mostly ran the register, but when someone was caffeinating, she was able to sell Kaiyah a Sucker Cake video game machine.

Vex focused on restocking, and Lindsay did most of the sales, while Stevie gave makeovers to whomever he could, and picked up the slack wherever he needed to.

Kaiyah writes the Shmegacy.

I tried to give this customer a makeover and couldn't, which makes me think she's the Reporter. But I never saw her with a clipboard, and she's not the Reporter I've seen at other businesses.

Mysteries abound!

I've set Stevie's businesses Downtown to attract a wider clientele. However, this means CrumpleBottom takes up a customer slot and walks around, glaring at the other customers and clickety-clacking her knitting needles.

I've been considering downloading Business Runs You. Pes's hacks usually eliminate a lot of micromanaging. I know I can do Stevie's LTW without it, but it might make my life a little easier. I can't decide if it would be too cheaty or not.

“Can we go yet? I want to go. We have been here forever.”

Soon. Just a few stars to go. Which might take longer than expected, if Stevie keeps giving bad makeovers like the one he just gave.

In the end, it's Katy McGaw, who I believe is one of the Garden Club members, who throws Stevie the last star he needed.

Hooray! Away from the grind of businesses and back to the grind of college!

At Havelock House, Aurie strings together enough simultaneous lovers to get some Aspiration out of it.

Stevie just wishes that Aurie's Special Friends weren't so poke-happy. Really, he just wanted a hug. Is that too much to ask?

Fortunately, Stevie's not one to hold a grudge, and is back to his own self in no time.

It took this Dormie a little longer to recover from being merged with the door.

Aurie kept on with her bad self, and her 10th lover was the town Slob. Her 9th was the Diva, though, so at least she's an equal-opportunity Romancer.

So she's halfway to Permaplat!

More than halfway, actually. Kestrel got dropped by the Wishing Well, and it seems that I hadn't bothered to get him his first kiss after the rebuild. I've always had a soft spot for him, so I certainly don't begrudge him one.

Meanwhile, Howie takes the opportunity to remind Stevie, Abel, and Inara that he's gay.

Poor Lindsay just wants to throw a party or make a zillion best friends, or really, anything but being chained to one of Stevie's businesses for a couple of weeks.

Stevie would rather be chained to a makeover chair than be lectured by Vex for breaking the shower.

Stevie's easily the sloppiest one in the house, and things do tend to break when he's around.

“Howe, I wish to apologize.”

“For that thing where you kissed me when I was naked and then got mad at me for assuming it meant something, and then got even madder when I got mad?”

“That was what I was referring to, yes.”

“Good. Because you do owe me an apology for that.”

“I'm sorry for doing what I did. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings.”

“Kissing me didn't hurt my feelings, you idiot. How you reacted after you did is what hurt my feelings.”

“I had not fully considered the ramifications of my actions.”

“Next time, think before you smooch.”

“I really am sorry. Is forgiveness out of the question?”

“Of course it's not.”

“Would it be too much to ask for a second chance?”

“Do you mean it?”

“I think I do.”

“Well then, a second chance it is.”

“I am grateful for the opportunity to make my past bad behavior up to you.”

“Don't do this because you feel you need to.”

“I'm not. I'm doing it because I like you.”

“I like you too.”

“I think I might even love you.”

“I love you too, Sawchuk.”

They even throw me an old-school Slow Dance Twirl!

Howie's a Pleasure Sim, so there is much singing of karaoke duets.

Karaoke duets are immediately followed by groping.

These two are pretty great together. It took Sawchuk a while to open up, but once he did, he found out how much he enjoyed it.

They both enjoyed this a whole lot.

Much snuggling was had by all.

And with this shot of Sawchuk's new obsession, I'll end the chapter and leave you wondering if the rest of them will wander around with purple heart thought bubbles too!